Fate All Riders
by freebiewitz
Summary: In a war where the good must fight each other only the one who fights hardest will survive! Every Servant is a Rider, summoned from the throne to heed the call of the Holy Grail. Some fight for themselves, some fight for others and some don't need a reason. The Holy Grail is filled with many heroes, many of them are Riders.
1. Chapter 1

**Fate: All Riders.**

Chapter 1: Summons.

The circle had been drawn.

An ample supply of mana was gathered.

The catalyst Avalon was in place for the ritual.

The plan was perfect and nothing could go wrong now but just in case….

Irisviel stood nearby to make sure everything would go smoothly, her presence was comforting.

Yet Kiritsugu Emiya could not help but feel somewhat paranoid.

It was said that the Magus killer could never be ambushed for he expected treachery at every turn, the best you could hope to do was to confirm his suspicions.

Thus when the bright light appeared and faded only to reveal what seemed to be a relatively poor Japanese hobo wearing brightly coloured if faded clothes it surprised the Einzbern when she noticed her husband pausing in hesitation.

The man though obviously quite poor still had the aura of a servant about him, the sheer power that emanated was something that all Magus (and in some rare cases mundane people) could detect. Yet despite being summoned as a servant using the Sheath of King Arthur this man was certainly not the King of knights.

Rubbing the back of his head the Servant looked upon his master.

"Hi." He spoke raising his hand somewhat slowly intimidated by Emiya's expression.

"I'm Saber, are you my master?" Being the professional he was Emiya then simply nodded without pause before turning away. He was still Saber, perhaps not the one they wanted but he was Saber none the less, at the very least the operation wasn't a complete failure yet.

Giving his full attention to his wife the Magus spoke. "Iri, find out everything you can about this Saber and his relationship to King Arthur, I'm going to make preparations." Somewhat annoyed at being ignored the Servant wondered if his situation would improve.

-Some time later-

It was cold, colder than Saber was used to, in fact he was more used to the blazing heat of the desert. It had been a few days within the Einzbern house more accurately described as a mansion and Saber was most delighted to have a constant supply of underwear for reasons Irisviel did not quite understand. At first she assumed the man to be a pervert but luckily that didn't seem to be the case.

Though for some reason Iri did find the idea of a Master, Servant relationship quite fascinating and wondered what would have happened if Kiritsugu had summoned an attractive female, it just seemed so taboo. Shaking the thoughts from her head she quickly cleared her mind of all impure thoughts. Days of questioning had managed to turn up a few facts about the servant, one of which concluded that he was a heroic spirit from either the future or an alternate universe.

The second fact revealed was the name of his noble phantasm, the Medajalibur.

The origins of the weapon was unknown to Saber however Irisviel and Kiritsugu had come up with several theories one of which involved the remnants of Excalibur being used in its construction. It was a long shot but it was the only explanation how this man was summoned instead of Arthur despite the king having a stronger connection to the Sheath.

How anyone would retrieve the sword from the lady of the lake was a complete mystery.

This theory was a weak one but it was the only possible one they could imagine.

"So Saber are you sure you don't know anyone like King Arthur?" The homunculus asked once more.

Shaking his head the servant smiled. "Nope, don't know anything about any King besides the one who made one of my other Noble Phantasms." Another fact that Iri had learnt of earlier that week, a sort of conceptual piece of equipment, in this case a belt that summoned a set of armour powered by coins that he called 'Medals'. He also informed her that he used to have more 'Medals' but for this war he only came with the set he was most known for to his chagrin.

The only other pieces of equipment he had were things he referred to as cell medals that seemed to replenish themselves the more prana was pumped into him. Three cell medals were needed to power his noble phantasm the Medajalibur, this news was quite welcome as the draw of prana could be mitigated during battle. It was almost like using the jewels the Tosaka family was known for. The main downside being the amount of Cell medals he could possessed at any one time was limited. If he wanted multiple uses of his ultimate attack he wouldn't be able to draw the prana from Iri without enough time to actually create new cell medals.

"Say uhh Iri." Calling her anything else but Iri would put his tongue in a twist thus her insistence that everyone call her by her nickname was a welcome proposition.

"What's Emiya's wish?" He asked, the man didn't seem bad but as far as he could tell he was empty, if he didn't know any better the Magus killer could've been the Dinosaur greed.

"He wants to save the world." She began as her eyes drifted to off into the distance. "He wants to make a world where there's no pain, no suffering where everyone is safe." Turning back to Saber her eyes narrowed slightly. "Please Saber promise me you'll protect him no matter what." He was already going to do just that but the white haired woman reinforced it.

Finding no other way to respond Saber nodded. As long as he had tomorrow's underwear nothing would harm his master.

* * *

After the customary and somewhat cliché flash of light the summoning ritual was soon completed. Frowning Kotomine Kirei wondered if he had performed the ritual inadequately or if his Servant was better at misinformation then he first thought. What was in front of him was certainly not Servant Assassin, rather it appeared he had summoned one of the knight classes, the lack of weapons however made it hard to distinguish which one.

Observing the ritual his father raised an eye brow. This was an unexpected development, without the aid of Assassin's stealth to scout out the enemy Tosaka's victory would be harder to attain. Still two master's with two servants working cooperatively was still something no other master could boast at least not during the start of the war.

The white and gold figure was wearing shining armour that bore blue trim and a black under suit that clung to his figure. There was a strange red symbol adorned on his chest and though his equipment was simple in design the belt however was somewhat gaudy in comparison.

The Servant took his right fist and put it against his left palm as if praying in an almost religious manner.

"I ask of you man of the cloth, are you my Master?" The knight seemed polite and for lack of better word chivalrous.

"I am, but I must ask, which class are you my servant?" The white soldier lowered his hands as six other identical white armoured servants appeared behind the first.

"We are Assassin, we were made to fight and hunt down Vampires for God."

Somewhat taken aback Risei then smiled. "It appears that my son, the Executor has summoned more Executors." The news that this servant was indeed Assassin and a man loyal to the church made him almost ecstatic. Putting his hand on Kotomine's shoulder he simply said "Son I am proud." Resei had made several errors in his judgement and though they were accurate to a degree the servants would not correct him on any of his unvoiced assumptions. Kotomine's expression did not change once.

-Some time later-

Another flash of light, one that Kotomine had seen before however the man before him was different. No saying that the man had stood before him was wrong, rather it was more accurate to say that this Servant stood before his teacher Tokiomi Tosaka. The heroic spirit wore blue and black armour, his face covered in a grill as if representing a barcode or a crown.

Somewhat surprised Tosaka hesitantly asked "Are you Gilgamesh?" This wasn't what he expected.

The blue figure seemed to study his master but with what expression was hard to tell. Curiosity perhaps judging by the way he stood but the bulky chest piece made it hard to identify.

"Of course I am, I mean all the treasures of this world belong to me and no one else." Flicking his head up the Servant seemed amused for some reason.

"Looks like I'm Archer, are you the Master that's going to help me get the ultimate treasure? The Holy Grail?"

Bowing his head low Tokiomi humbly replied in the affirmative.

"Yes my king, I shall assist you in every way possible as your loyal vassal." Archer seemed pleased with his subservience. Tokiomi didn't expect Gilgamesh to look like this but judging how time tended to distort the truth he also prepared himself mentally in case Gilgamesh turned out to be a girl. Such preparations he thought was unneeded it seemed.

Kotomine just stood there impassive as ever.

* * *

The legendary white scarf said to summon an unknown hero that would be the strongest Rider history had ever known was now ash after a lightning bolt had destroyed it. The summoning ritual had gone off without a hitch and after the expected flash of light something unexpected occurred. Before he could get a better look at his servant a lightning bolt had come out of nowhere striking the hero obliterating everything else nearby.

Though he was a heroic servant Waver Velvet now on his ass wasn't sure if he was unharmed. He had no doubt in his mind that the servant was still alive but even they could be hurt given enough force and the force of nature clearly was quite powerful enough to create a small localized explosion.

Before the smoke could clear a voice rang out from the darkness.

"The heavens cry out!" The smoke began to clear. "The earth cries out!" The glint from his helmet could be seen through the dust. "The people cry out!" Waver began to stand up unsteadily supporting himself. "They cry out for me to destroy evil!" The smoke had mostly cleared up by now to reveal a bug like face. "Listen up, evildoers...I am the warrior of justice, Kamen Rider Stronger!" A wind passes by flicking the white scarf he wore behind him in a dramatic fashion.

"…." A few moments of silence followed as the servant Rider kept the pose, his left fist at his side and his free hand raised to the sky pointing.

Summoning what courage he could Waver then spoke out.

"As the one who summoned you I ask that you the strongest Rider become my servant!"

Waver then found himself on his ass again as pain blossomed throughout his face.

His servant had flicked his forehead! The realization kicked in and confusion turned to anger.

"RIDER WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?" Waver Velvet was outraged.

"Because you insulted me." This comment was met with a blank stare. "My 'name' is Stronger. The 'me' from today is stronger than the 'me' from yesterday. The 'me' from tomorrow will be stronger than the 'me' from today."

Putting his hand out Rider then grabbed onto his master's hand thus pulling him to his feet.

"'Strongest'? That word has no meaning."

* * *

Another flash of light, this one came with train sounds which Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald subconsciously dismissed as something from outside. Rubbing her eyes his fiancé Sola-Ui looked blankly at the servant they had summoned.

The man wore blue armour with a helmet that featured large orange eyes. For some reason the whole thing reminded her of turtles. This was not Diarmuid the Celtic heroic spirit, in fact the figure before them didn't seem remotely Irish at all!

Moving forwards Kayneth spoke with confidence in his voice, even if he failed to summon the right servant clearly his brilliance would compensate by summoning an even stronger one.

"Servant Lancer, as your Master I-"

"Hello young lady." The servant spoke ignoring Kayneth completely. "Mind if I string you along?" Something latched onto the young women's heart at that moment. Perhaps it was magical in nature, perhaps it was love at first sight. Whatever the case she would love to answer 'No I would not mind at all' however all that she said was "Whaaa?"

Gritting his teeth Kayneth tried to regain his hold on the situation. "LANCER!" It was presumptuous to assume that this servant was indeed lancer but he had aimed for a lancer and in his mind if he wanted to summon lancer then lancer was what he would get.

"THAT IS MY FIANCE I SHALL NOT SUFFER ANY ADVANCES FROM YOU TO HER DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" A slight unease settled over the room as Lancer seemed to casually consider his words.

"The fisherman does not advance to his catch but rather reels them in." Furrowing his eye brows his rage seemed to boil.

Yet the confrontation was disarmed. "Dear please, I am your loyal wife, whatever Lancer does I will always be at your side regardless." A white lie designed to stop him from yelling. The charming servant was a much better catch then the blond boisterous boy that she had the misfortune of having a pre-arranged marriage with but then again so was any other male in Japan. Calming down Kayneth went right to business.

"I am your master, do you accept the contract?" The blue armoured figure regarded him once more.

"Normally I'm not one to follow men but your devotion to your women does score a point for you…. I'll be your servant sure." Grinding his teeth that wasn't the answer he wanted, never the less he was Master now and Lancer was indeed his servant.

* * *

It felt wrong, it shouldn't exist, the thing…. It was almost as if Gaia itself was trying to crush its existence. Kariya Mutou convulsed on the ground, summoning his servant was one of the most painful experiences he had ever gone through. After adding the berserk enhancement to the ritual something had been summoned.

No summon was too kind of a word, it was like the presence that he now felt was forced into the world that it did not belong. The figure was coated in a whitish grey miasma, its glowing green eyes pierced through the fog showing unsettling amounts of intellect.

In the background Zouken Mutou grinned as if some private joke was revealed. Unlike his son the man was unaffected. The green eyed berserker stared at the decrepit old man for a moment before turning its attention back to its master. It seemed Zouken and the servant shared an understanding. It was an understanding between two abominations, beings that should not exist yet somehow here, alive and breathing.

Watching his father's cocky face Kariya tightened his grip and slowly but surely stood up.

The connection between him and his servant was already established, the amount of prana involved almost tore his body apart, whoever this servant was Kariya hoped he was strong enough to compensate for the pain he felt.

"Such an unorthodox servant you have summoned my son who is a most unorthodox magus." Grinning he didn't expect the man to live past the first couple days of the war.

"I suppose I should have expected such a thing to occur, if you need anything my door will always be open for you." Words of a kind man coming from the withered depths of an evil one.

Kariya vowed to save Sakura at any cost, this humiliation and pain was nothing.

Clutching his stomach in pain as blood flooded his mouth it looked as if he was bowing to his servant.

Berserker simply stood there wondering when it was time to destroy.

* * *

Shutting off the television an orange haired man holding a book made his way over to a small child whom at this moment was bound and gagged. The room was dark and smelt of blood, why wouldn't it? The house was the site of a recent murder so logically it would of course smell of blood.

"Do you think demons exist, kiddo?" He asked the terrified boy. "All the papers and magazines call me a demon." It was something that the child agreed with completely at this point in time. "But wouldn't that be kinda rude if demons really did exist? You gotta be clear about these things." The man said as if he was talking about the weather or discussing what to have for lunch.

Suddenly he crouched down saluting his captive further terrifying the boy as he drew closer.

"Sup! I'm Uryuu Ryuunosuke, and I'm a demon!" He announced cheerfully. "I dunno if that's how I should be introducing myself. So like, I found this." Waving an ancient looking tome in front of bounded boy he elaborated.

"It's some old book I found in the store house." Flipping through it casually he continued oblivious or uncaring of the child's fear. "It looks like my ancestors were researching how to summon demons. So like I've gotta find out if demons really do exist!" Standing up he sighed. "But y'know … If a demon really did come out, it'd be pretty dumb to just chat with it and have nothing to offer him." He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"So, kiddo… If a demon really does show up… Mind if we let it kill you?" The child widened his eyes in panic, this murderer was insane he thought. He struggled all he could, he had to get away.

Laughing Uryuu bounced back and forth on a wooden chair. "I wonder what it's like, being killed by a demon. Not many people get to experience- Ow!" A sharp pain coursed through his arm, the source being the back of his right hand. "What's this?" The image of a stylized cobra appeared where the discomfort was before.

And a shining light consumed his vision, the pentagram he had painted using his victims blood earlier was reacting to something.

A purple figure stood before him stretching his neck in what seemed to be a habit of his.

"Hey, who are you? Are you my master?" The man asked. "It vexes me…."

Pausing in amazement he soon replied. "I'm Uryuu Ryuunosuke. I'm unemployed, and I like killing people, pretty much. Especially kids and young women" He spoke the last bit slightly more enthusiastically then the rest.

"I guess the contract's done then, I guess you can call me Caster." The purples man said impatiently. Everything in his blood wanted to kill everyone in the room, he wanted to kill the one who summoned him but if he killed his master he wouldn't be able to fight in the war. It was a pain but it was best if he saved him for last.

"….. Uhh anyways how about a sacrifice? Wanna eat that kid?" He added a bit too joyfully.

The boy who had witnessed the entire thing completely believed that the orange haired man had indeed somehow managed to summon a demon, escape was impossible yet he continued to fight for freedom.

Looking to his master and then the young boy he crouched down grabbing the child by the head, he then picked him up and threw him at the television. However instead of the expected impact the boy simply was sucked in through the reflective surface.

Amazed Uryuu wondered what had happened. "Hey mister what was that?" Pointing at the screen he motioned his master to take a better look.

Squinting Uryuu found himself watching the boy being devoured by a giant purple cobra, it was hard to see in the dark but there was no mistaking what was going on.

"That's… so COOL! YOU'RE AWESOME MAN!" Taken aback by the praise caster was used to fear, scorn and disgust but unadulterated admiration? This was new…. And he liked it.

"You Vex me." He replied in an almost affectionate way. He would absolutely save his master for last and god help anyone who would try and slay him before it was his turn.

* * *

**Omake!**

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" A cake was presented and to all observers the man in the red suit was insane. He presented the cake to no one, all that stood in front of him was a lake, his assistant half-heartedly blew a party whistle. With a heave of effort he threw the cake into the water.

Suddenly something emerged, the liquid twisted into a shape that could be described as feminine taking the form of a beautiful woman.

"Oh my you shouldn't have." The lady of the lake said. Despite her words she was happy anyone would ever visit her, she was used to giving gifts out such as swords but not receiving anything in return.

Now that she thought about it every person she had gifted a sword to had never gifted her anything in return. On the other hand you had this man Kougami. Not only had she been receiving cakes from him for the last four years but from what she was told he had taken the time to actually bake them all himself! A man who could cook, the idea to such a traditional and old spirit was an interesting one indeed.

"It's your Birthday, everyone deserves a cake on their Birthday it's SPLENDID!" If he didn't know any better he could've sworn that the lady of the lake had blushed.

"Ohhh don't ever change Kougami…. Oh I feel bad that I never get you anything for your Birthday, when is your Birthday anyways?" Smiling at her response he then told her the answer.

"Tomorrow actually, it's how I remember your Birthday so perfectly!"

Turning away in embarrassment the lady of the lake disappeared for a few seconds before reappearing with something in her arms.

"Well uh I know this is early but please accept this gift, I can't give you the whole thing since you're not a hero but…." In her hands was a shard that emanated power. "It's not much bu-"

"SPLENDID!" He was a truly an excitable person.


	2. Chapter 2

**Fate: All Riders.**

Chapter 2: Pose and Poise.

Assassin was peculiar, split into several servants each one individually was weaker than the average heroic spirit. Considering that Assassin was already considered a physically weak class this Assassin was surprisingly even weaker. However what the Servant lacked in raw power it made up with numbers and stealth, at least to some degree.

Kotomine soon found that underneath the suits of armour were several normal looking human beings. Two of which were females and if he didn't know any better one of which was raised by wolves judging how he would occasionally growl.

Their obedience and professionalism was most welcome and though Kirei had no idea which figure from history he had summoned he did however have a few theories. It was known that the old man of the mountain had multiple personas, it was possible that he had summoned several of the most similar ones in regards to combat style.

In this case said combat style was rather straight forward. The only thing subtle about Assassin was their alternate civilian forms which Kotomine admitted were very well camouflaged, it was as if they lived in the modern age. With the concealing presence class feature they could easily hide amongst the populace gathering information without danger hiding in plain sight.

Furrowing his eye brows the priest was concerned for his teacher, he was afraid that the blue armoured figure was not actually Gilgamesh. He had brought this up with Tosaka earlier but his mentor rebuffed him.

"Kotomine, I understand your scepticism but who else could this be? You must remember how time distorts truth, for all we know Lancelot could have been king while Arthur his vassal." Chuckling he sipped his wine. "History does have a way of twisting things, who knows maybe it will remember the Mage Slayer as a hero of justice!" He chuckled.

Kotomine was not amused. The subject of Kiritsugu Emiya wasn't exactly off limits, but in the presence of Kotomine it wasn't exactly advisable.

"Sir, all that I ask is that you cross reference facts, you're simply too trusting and though that is a good quality for all you know I could stab you in the back! You must be more careful." Smiling at his student Tokiomi was touched by his concern.

"I trust you completely, so in that regard I'll take your warning more seriously, I'll keep an eye on my Servant and if things do not add up I will take the appropriate measures." Smiling he emptied his wine glass.

-Some time later-

Kotomine planned to stab his master in the back, his servants at the ready.

"Assassin, are you sure you can do this?" He spoke to the serious man behind him.

"Of course sir, I have promised to defeat him, there is no way I can fail." Overlooking the Tosaka mansion the pair stood atop a cliff.

"Henshin!" Bringing the golden knuckle duster to the palm of his hand he then intoned the words of power.

*FIST ON!* an artificial voice spoke as he inserted the weapon into his belt. In a flash of light the armour was upon him once more. "Do not worry master, I will return his life to god." Nodding grimly it had to be done.

Jumping down the cliff the priest watched on as Assassin approached the mansion, blasting apart the defences with well-placed strikes. For a heroic spirit said to be stealthy this servant was rather loud about the way he operated. Another trap was disabled as he kicked a fountain into dust, the water continued to spurt into the air albeit at a crooked angle.

Suddenly the presence of another servant was felt. It was for a lack of better term huge.

The figure was huge standing over three meters tall it dwarfed the assassin in size. Taking a step forwards the white soldier did not hesitate, the enemy in front of him was his natural enemy.

To all observers the holy warrior was fighting a giant armoured demon. His class was obvious; in his hand he held a vampiric golden bow. It was a little small for the giant and could only be considered a short bow for the behemoth. To the average human being however said bow would easily match their size.

"PLEASE RETURN THAT LIFE TO GOD!" Assassin shouted as he rolled out of the way of a deadly arrow. Archer was simply too strong, there was no way to get past his guard. Or at least there wouldn't be if this wasn't all choreographed.

"SEAL OF SOLOMON!* I COMMAND THY DEMON TO DIE!" Detaching the knuckle duster from his belt the servant squeezed on the small pellet hidden in the handle setting the small flash bang off.

Swinging his fist the blinding light covered the area before revealing the giant archer staggering backwards clutching his heart.

"NO HOW COULD I BE DEFEATED?!" And with that he and his bow began to fade. No trace of the servant could be detected, archer for all intents are purposes was now dead.

-Later-

"That was quite the performance Gilgamesh, I had no idea you could summon other servants." Sipping his wine the Tosaka sighed, content with how things were.

"But of course, as a king I must always have my loyal servants on hand." Shrugging in amusement he continued. "As king I never have to do anything as long as there's someone else to do it for me but don't worry you'll see me in battle eventually after all I'm the strongest there is." The way he acted was in accordance to how he expected the king to behave. It seemed that Kotomine's paranoia though well-meaning was unneeded.

"Apologize my king but I must speak with Kotomine now, he does not trust you, I would be relieved if I could contact him privately for now." He himself trusted his Servant completely so this act was more of a favour to the priest if nothing else. Nodding the blue hero decided to go off and amuse himself somewhere else.

"Kotomine, are you there?" Tokiomi asked.

After a moment of silence he was answered. "Yes sir, your servant is indeed powerful, I am unsure if mine is needed honestly." So modest, Tosaka was proud to call him a student.

"Your servants are useful make no mistake." Sipping his wine he continued. "To have summoned so many that are so loyal, perhaps you are fated to be king yourself?" Tosaka enjoyed teasing the serious man sometimes.

"The only king I serve is him in heaven." Tokiomi could almost imagine the priest bowing at the moment in fact he could almost imagine his servants doing the same behind him. The image was amusing.

"Regardless we should move onto the next stage of the plan, with Archer's independent class feature we can-"

* * *

Kotomine was more dangerous than ever now. In order to secure his life the cowardly Tosaka had given all three of his command seals to the priest in exchange for sparing him. However the man opted to stay at his mansion, the place was for the moment considered neutral ground.

Turning his head away in disgust Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald disposed of the reports. "To think one of the great houses of Magus brought low by a dog of the church." Sola-ui only nodded. She didn't really involve herself with clock tower politics but she understood that this defeat was somewhat of an insult to all Magus in a sense.

Standing up dramatically Kayneth then spoke. "I Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald will avenge the Tosaka family and restore their honour!" It was a sharp turn from his plots to kill the man earlier. The blond lord was as pompous as ever.

"Milord is such a hot head, perhaps I should call you peach?" The voice came from the blue armoured figure standing against the doorway.

"LANCER!" Calming himself down he then presented himself with more poise. "Lancer, please do not disrespect me, you are my Servant, thus your actions reflect mine."

"Oh, I suppose that means you're swimming in women then?" Gritting his teeth Kayneth could not for the life of him understand how such a letch could become a heroic spirit. Sola simply giggled in response. GIGGLED! She never giggled from his jokes!

"PLEASE! Enough joking, we must devise a plan to defeat Assassin, the priest's servant is most unorthodox. Honestly King Solomon as an Assassin, how does that even work?" Turning his head thoughtfully Lancer looked out the window, the city was quite beautiful this time of night.

"Well if he really is Assassin going out looking for him would be a bad idea then." The blue spearman continued. "I mean for all you know we could all walk into a trap and into his net, the whole thing is quite fishy." Pausing for a moment Kayneth nodded.

"Yes, appearing so honourable as if a knight, I can see how this would be a deception, very well Lancer I have a new plan." Pulling out a map of the city he put his finger on the docks.

"I want you there, waiting, if we must battle a servant it must be in a place where they could not have prepared, we shall fight them on our terms." Sola raised an eye brow, if that was the case why not set the trap here? Her husband always boasted about the defences he had set up.

"Oh? It seems I have a most tactically minded master, very well I shall wait there and reel them all in for you my lord." Smirking it appeared his Servant was finally showing him the proper respect that he deserved.

* * *

"Damn it Rider are you listening?" Waver Velvet was yelling at his servant once again. "Archer was defeated don't you understand?" Rider continued to ignore him and watch Super Sentai, for some reason the Heroic spirit liked the show.

"RIDER!" He tried once more. This time he had indeed got the man's attention.

"Yeah, yeah I heard a demon right? Tosaka managed to summon some sort of heroic demon I get it." Well at least he paid attention. For the time being Rider was not wearing his usual armour, rather he wore modern day clothes.

Rider's shirt was a superman shirt with the large red 'S' emblazed on the front. When asked why he wouldn't wear anything else he replied. "Because I can't find a shirt with a normal 'S' on the front." And he left it at that. Another strange wardrobe choice was the gloves, apparently shaking hands with the man using your bare hands was a bad idea.

When Waver's 'Grandfather' asked about them Rider simply said that he was in a horrible accident and needed them to cover the injuries. Thanks to the power of tact the subject was quickly dropped. Ah yes his 'Grandfather' an elderly couple Waver had hypnotised earlier into believing that he was their grandchild.

Rider didn't like the deception honestly but saw no harm in it at least not until later. Judging how worked up he had become over it Waver almost thought that the servant would blurt out the truth.

"So Archer's dead, the guy was a bad guy anyways and the guy who killed him didn't seem evil so we don't have to worry about him at all." Right Rider had a whole white and black view on justice.

"Why do you keep watching these kid shows? They're for kids!" Finding himself on his ass once more as pain blossomed through his face the boy was struck silent.

"Shows for children shape what they dream in the future, laugh at their dreams and you no longer are human!" He spoke seriously defending his beloved pieces of entertainment. "Besides kids watch football and that's not a kid show at all." There were several things wrong with that statement but for all intents and purposed Waver could not think what.

* * *

Lancer was a patient man. Anyone who loved fishing had to be. Standing in the docks was rather refreshing actually; in fact standing anywhere close to large quantities of water was quite relaxing. If things went sour he could use the sea to his advantage, not many heroes were known for their sea faring abilities and those that were….. Well he'd think of something when the time comes.

-Somewhere else-

Saber and Irisviel had sensed the presence of the heroic spirit earlier. It was an obvious challenge and with Assassin still in the war things could get tricky.

"It could be a trap Iri, we should be careful." Shaking her head she was unafraid.

"Kiritsugu will have a plan, he might not beat Assassin but I trust he'll find a way to give us warning so that we can do it for him." Her faith in her husband was absolute. Under such show of loyalty Saber could do nothing but agree and simply believe in the man he called Master.

Speaking of which he was to call Irisviel that title from now on, he didn't like the idea of having her pretending to be a Master but she herself had insisted. Was there nothing this woman would not do for her man? If he didn't know any better he could swear that she would die for him without even being asked to.

Turning around the corner the pair soon found themselves face to face with a lone Servant. The blue armoured figure radiated power as all Servants did. The class was obvious, the long spear marked him as a knight class, specifically Lancer.

"Oh? What's this? Here I wait expecting a battle but instead I find myself blessed with a white haired beauty." The Einzbern blushed a little at that. She was flattered of course but she had Kiritsugu, nothing would tear her away from her husband not even that smooth voice, that mysterious- NO she had Kiritsugu Emiya no other man would do!

"S-S-SABER!" She yelled shaking the thoughts from her head.

Stepping forwards he shielded his master from the man in front of him.

"Saber is it? You don't need to do that, I am gentlemen if nothing else, I'd never strike a lady especially one so… Beautiful." Raising an eyebrow the way he talked and the way he stood reminded him of a certain blue monster he had fought before.

"Lancer we're here to fight, you should know this." Revealing a strange belt with three slots on the top Saber then pressed it against his waist. A flash of light later and the belt was now attached.

"Mind if I string you along then Saber?" Iri blushed again, he had no idea Lancer had swung that way.

"HENSHIN!" Tipping the buckle onto a tilted angle he grabbed a yellow disc like object and ran it over the belt. Words that weren't his own announced the coming change.

*TAKA- TORA-BATA! TATOBA-TATOBA-TATOBA!*

Everyone watching the scene had the same thought running through their minds at that moment.

'Why did the belt sing?'

Before there was a hobo. Now there was an armoured warrior, his head the Color of red adorned with the image of a hawk. His arms and chest were yellow that featured the image of a tiger. His legs covered in green mimicked the style of grasshoppers. Standing before the blue servant the traffic light warrior stood ready, his blue and silver blade by his side.

"Oh? What's this? A belt? A cry of Henshin?" Casually leaning on his lance the Servant continued with his observations. "Are you by any chance a Kamen Rider?" Saber at this moment froze confused on why the warri- "OW!" the question was enough to distract him as he found himself pushed back by a flurry of attacks. The tip of the spear continued to rain death upon him. If not for his armour Saber had no doubt he would've been killed. Parrying a straight jab to the side he jumped back to give himself more room, he had never fought an opponent like this before. Readying his blade for the next strike he found that it never came. Lancer was once again leaning against his weapon.

"Not bad but you have no initiative, you're a bit too timid Saber." Putting too much weight on his lance he soon slips. Surprised at the sudden movement the Naïve hero tries to help only to find Lancer catching himself at the last moment using the momentum from falling down to deliver the next strike once again at his chest.

Staggering backwards he swore. "Damnit Lancer stop tricking me!" Aggravated he swung the sword through the air.

"But lies are just so much more interesting then even a thousand truths no?" Gripping his weapon he went into a fighting stance. "But I suppose if you insist we can fight properly." Watching for signs of deception Saber slowly circled around for an opening. He didn't trust the man one bit any more.

* * *

"Maiya do you see the target?" Through the scope of his sniper rifle Kiritsugu had found Kayneth, Lancer's master. By the look of things Saber was having a hard time, it wasn't a question of power it was a question of skill. If this war was measured by sheer strength alone Lancer would never win but as it stood he easily compensated with deception. Saber being the naïve fool that he was fell for every feint. Lancer would bring his weapon in for an attack; Saber would go to block it when suddenly the weapon would strike from a completely different angle.

His Servant was incompetent but tough, a dozen blows and he was still fighting or at least trying to.  
Kayneth had stood in the shadows overlooking the battle, it was technically a clear shot but it appeared that he was covered by his mystic code the Volumen Hydragyrum. To get past that Emiya would have to use his own mystic code, the Thompson Contender however at this range the pistol's accuracy would most likely miss. Wasting one of his origin bullets on a shot that would certainly not find its mark was not something he was willing to risk.

"This is Maiya, I can't see him from this angle but I do see someone else, I'm not sure who it is though. Asian, middle age man, fit, judging by the way he carries himself I'd say he's got military training, interestingly enough he doesn't seem surprised by the events so far he's most likely aware of the presence of magic in the world, he could be a Magus." Frowning Emiya wasn't sure what to make of that.

"I don't sense anything from the man, he's clearly not a Master but keep an eye on him." It could be a Servant. King Solomon was no Assassin, this Servant was most likely adept at disguising himself as other heroes. That golden crown he wore when he had fought Archer was most convincing. Yet something about that whole encounter seemed wrong, it was why he had sent familiars to spy on the Tosaka estates despite it being declared neutral ground.

Suddenly thunder struck.

A thunderbolt created a smoking crater between Saber and Lancer separating the two and stopping the battle for the moment.

Before the dust could clear a voice rang out from the darkness.

"The heavens cry out!" The smoke began to clear.

"The earth cries out!" The glint from his helmet could be seen through the dust.

"The people cry out!" Waver began to cough and complain about the mode of transport.

"They cry out for me to destroy evil!" The smoke had mostly cleared up by now to reveal a bug like face.

"Listen up, evildoers...I am the warrior of justice, Kamen Rider Stronger!" A wind passes by flicking the white scarf he wore behind him in a dramatic fashion clearing the rest of the smoke from the area.

A bug faced hero with a ludicrously large chest plate that covered even his shoulders was revealed to be sitting on a strange motor bike. His Master which sat behind him quickly got off only to collapse to the ground in a coughing fit.

"Kids these days, if I didn't know any better you'd think explosions was a rare thing around here."

"THAT'S BECAUSE THEY ARE RIDER!" Still trying to catch his breath he could swear that his servant was powered by explosions judging how they kept happening around him.

"Another Rider? Well this is an interesting war indeed." Said a very amused Lancer.

"Hey you're one of the seven!" Saber's hand trembled; he remembered Stronger and his companions quite clearly. After he had freed them from their 'Medal' prisons they had helped him and another hero save the day. Pausing for a moment recognition seemed to have flared in Stronger's eyes.

"Nope don't know who you are." Almost tripping over Saber wasn't sure how to respond.

"You must've fought with my alternate universe double or something." Shrugging he grabbed his master and pulled the poor coughing boy to his feet.

Coughing Lancer interrupted them. "This is quite the touching reunion but I don't suppose we- BLEGH!" Thrown several feet into a shipping container by a ball of exploding energy Lancer made a rather large dent in the metal.

Jumping away Rider and Saber found themselves facing another armoured man. This one had the appearance of dragonflies covering his form. Wrenching himself from the container Lancer wondered what the hell had happened.

*RIDER SHOOTING!* A synthesized voice announced.

Another energy ball was fired this time at the already injured Saber. Dodging out of the way as best he could the explosion carried him into the water.

"LANCER help the servant deal with Saber." A voice rang out.

"What? After what he did to me? No way!" He yelled angrily.

The brat had the GALL to back talk him? Very well, it seemed a demonstration was in order.

"Lancer I COMMAND you to kill Saber with the help of the new Servant." Feeling the actions of his body that weren't his own he soon flung himself into the water with the dragonfly servant following soon after.

Turning to his servant Waver spoke. "Rider can you swim?" The silence was deafening.

* * *

A certain thief was watching the fight between Saber and Lancer.

"Hmm I already have his card…. But the traffic light….. never seen a rider like him before….. doesn't seem that strong." The link between him and his master had been cut, with the combination of his presence concealing ability and the independent class feature it was the perfect way to play dead. Of course the plan was on a limited time frame, with the Prana restrictions he had Archer could only summon so many Servants before he would fade away.

After seeing Rider's entrance he made up his mind.

*Kamen Ride DRAKE!*

The silver blue figure stood before his summoner awaiting orders.

"I want you to blast the blue guy then I want you to play around with traffic light, I want to see what kind of treasure he's hiding, leave the loud one for now." Nodding the Drake simply followed his orders.

* * *

It seemed that the Gunman and the Lancer were both adept at fighting within the water.

Saber obviously wasn't.

"SABER!" Yelling out in worry Iri used as much prana as she could to heal his wounds. However the damage he was taking outstripped what she could undo, it was almost frustrating.

An explosion and the broken form of her servant had found its way back onto land. Despite being wet his armour was smoking with damage, he couldn't compete with two heroes in the water.

Trying to get back up he felt something grab his foot, Lancer was going to drag him back in.

"EIJI!" A voice rang out.

*The Seal of Solomon is a magical signet ring said to have been possessed by King Solomon that had the power to control demons. Commanding one to die would give the appropriate effect. Of course this is all an act.


	3. Chapter 3

**Fate: All Riders.**

Chapter 3: Shout for change.

"EIJI!" A voice rang out.

Something in Saber's mind clicked into place. A practiced action he had performed and perfected over many battles that had gone beyond a conscious level. Acting on a combination of instinct and reflex he listened and using the empowered sight his hawk eyes gave caught the flying medals that flew across his vision.

Three medals, all blue. He was then pulled into the depths of the water.

"Shachi-Unagi-Tako-Sha Sha Shauta Sha Sha Shauta!"

No really why did it keep singing?

ooooooooooooooooo

"Hey Caster what is it?" His new friend had paused, the guy really liked killing and was picking apart a particularly beautiful women making her insides bend in such a way that her blood would flow in a specific pattern.

"Hmm?" It seemed that caster was distracted, looking over into the distance. "Oh it's just that there's a fight going on." Sounded fun.

"So why don't we join in? We can murder a lot of people that way!" Shaking his head as much as Caster liked that idea he simply didn't have the prana to do it yet.

"Nah, let's just keep finding people, I wonder if there's a school nearby." Any women or children would go towards art while men that they would find went straight to Caster's giant snake, or Rhino, or Manta ray. Caster was sure a nice person to have so many pets. Grabbing a map Uryuu found that he couldn't make sense of the directions. Applying the palm of his hand to his face he laughed.

"Oh right, we're in the mirror world everything is backwards here! Hey Caster let's go back I think this portrait is done for now." Nodding Caster grabbed his master before jumping out into a well-lit apartment that looked completely normal except for the mirror and what was in it. The dwellers of this place all laid inside in various poses and states of dismemberment.

"Man having a demon for a friend is useful, to think my art would have a literal frame that you can hang up." Nodding Caster appreciated his master's work. He had never considered using his powers like this in life, he was too preoccupied trying to kill people and escape police.

However soon the corpses began to dissolve, things not of that world could last long within it.

"Shame that it's not permanent huh? Let's go to the next room Caster." Nodding the servant wondered what kind of victims he'd find asleep next. He tried to puzzle out what their faces would look like, what their screams of pain would sound like, how much blood they would spill.

"I'm vexed." He said in anticipation.

ooooooooooooooooo

Kayneth smiled, everything was going according to plan.

Saber was soon dragged into the water by his own Servant Lancer, the fool Einzbern homunculus did nothing but cower. Not realizing the hypocrisy Kayneth simply smirked at his own perceived superiority. He had seen the flash of blue light beneath the surface of water but thought nothing of it, clearly it was another energy ball from that Mysterious Servant. It was somewhat troubling not know the identity of the Heroic spirit and even more unsettling since Kayneth could not identify the Gunman's class but for the time being it mattered not.

Oh he heard the synthesized voice shout 'Rider Shooting!' earlier but there was already a rider in this war. Specifically the rider was Kamen Rider Stronger, the one that his student had summoned, the one that he should have possessed. As Waver Velvet's mentor he mentally gave himself a note to reprimand the boy when he could but revealing himself when Assassin was still in the war was foolish.

Not only that but Assassin's master, Kotomine Kirei had six command seals to burn, if spotted he could simply command his servant to instantly teleport and kill him. It was best to remain in the shadows for now. Lancer's performance for the moment was satisfactory, his professionalism however still needed work, if he wanted the honour as being known as the Servant of Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald he'd have to work much, much harder.

ooooooooooooooooo

The idea of fighting an enemy with someone else flanking and distracting them was appealing to Lancer. It wasn't honourable but who cared about honour when you could obtain victory? However despite his views on such things this battle was leaving a bad taste in his mouth. Fighting alongside someone who had attacked you earlier was simply bad luck. How would he know that the Dragonfly would keep fighting Saber and not turn on him?

If it was up to Lancer he would've let the two of them fight each other and finish off the weakened victor but as it stood it was an unfair fight that would leave the Gunman with the advantage. Already injured from the earlier energy blast he doubted his own chances for victory. Even more so when Saber decided to have his belt sing again.

"Shachi-Unagi-Tako-Sha Sha Shauta Sha Sha Shauta!" Turning completely blue, his features had changed. If Lancer was to hazard a guess then he'd figure that the servant had just equipped himself for aquatic combat.

Grabbing the Servants leg Lancer had managed to drag him back into the water. Holding him from behind the command seal urged him to assist the mysterious Gunman. Aiming his weapon at Saber he began to pull the trigger as Lancer held him still. Before the attack could find its mark Lancer soon found Saber turning to liquid leaving himself peppered with bullets.

"Ow! You're a slippery one aren't you? Looks like I've lost my catch." Swirling around with his new found agility Saber managed to dodge the Gunman again and again. Lancer tried to help but was useless in that regard. He was good in the water but Saber, it was as if he was the water! It seemed that the traffic light hero was much more interesting then he gave him credit for.

'Rider Shooting!' The gun had once more announced it's coming attack, the energy ball began to build up.

'Scanning Charge!' retaliating it seemed that Saber was going to match it with his own power.

The ball of energy flew towards the servant of the sword whose legs split revealing a multitude of tentacles that rotated around his waist like a drill. Saber then immediately dropped deep into the sea avoiding the attack all together before coming right back up penetrating the shocked Servant.

"SEEIYYYAAA!" An explosive shockwave threw Lancer backwards, he felt the need to fight simply disappear.

"Hmmm that's right." He thought swimming away to safety. "Master only commanded me to help the new servant fight Saber, he should've been a bit more specific." Now that said Servant was dead he wasn't compelled to fight anymore. His mood drastically improved as he made his way quickly onto land before Saber could notice. However it seemed another Servant had taken an interest in him.

"YOU THERE LANCER!" Rider announced pointing his hand in his direction. "My name is Shigeru Jo! So just call me Shigeru or just Mr Jo!" Waver Velvet decided that the best course of action involved groaning and applying both hands to his face.

"Oh what a polite man you are Mr Jo to introduce yourself so." Lancer replied. Rider nodded in approval. "I'm afraid I'm quite hurt, if possible I'd like to retreat for now, I don't suppose you could just let me go?" If Lancer was any judge of character he hoped that he was right about this Rider. He hoped that this kind of man was the kind that really would let him go if asked.

"I don't know, you took on another hero in an unfair fight, I should at least beat you for such a travesty." Putting his hands to his face Waver Velvet began to softly sob.

"To be fair my Master used a command seal on me. Honestly I'm insulted that my duel with Saber was interrupted by an intruder!" It was quite the lie but hopefully his status as a Heroic spirit along with his title of being a lancer of the knight class would reinforce his words. Jumping out of the water Saber soon followed. Limping over it seemed that the injuries he had suffered earlier were catching up to him.

"You can trust him Rider, he could've attacked my back after I beat the other servant." And the lie continues to be reinforced! Nodding Stronger accepted what he thought to be fact.

"Very well I shall allow both heroes in front of me to rest and to become STRONGER! Next I see you we shall battle!" Getting back on his bike he grabbed his master before setting off. No grand explosion, no flash of lightning just him and his bike moving off into the distance and out of view. Both remaining heroic spirits were quite shocked.

Throughout this entire encounter Lancer continued to ignore a certain voice in his head.

ooooooooooooooooo

Gritting his teeth he kept sending the same mental commands to his Servant. "Lancer! Get SABER! KILL HIM!" He wouldn't use another Command seal, to use two so early in the war was reckless even for him. "Damnit Lancer listen to me!" His servant was chatting with Saber now CHATTING! "I know you can hear me Lancer, stop ignoring me!" Waving good bye the two servants left on seemingly good if strained terms promising to fight seriously if they ever met again.

Kayneth was furious, words would be said and discipline would be distributed.

ooooooooooooooooo

Iri slumped to the ground in exhaustion, she worried for Saber but it seemed he was alright in the end. Tilting his belt back to the upright position the servant reverted back to his old form. "Iri!" he yelled supporting her. "Are you alright?" Nodding she put some power into her legs before standing up albeit somewhat unsteadily.

"Saber, I'm glad you're alright, where did those blue medals come from?" Said blue medals were being held in his hands. Picking them up she examined them closer, they were quite beautiful.

"Oh they're mine, you can return them now." A floating red hand materialized in front of her. Eyes widening in shock she screamed in surprise.

Throwing the medals at the monster it shouted a profanity before grabbing mid-flight.

"Damnit Eiji, what kind of crazy master summoned you!?" The thing could speak! A hand speaking, how did that even work?

"Ankh? You're alive?" Hope flared in his voice.

"No more then you are." The red hand replied.

ooooooooooooooooo

The hide out was a large castle, not very subtle but at least it was comfortable. The amount of living space was something that the Greed was not used to honestly and he would've preferred something more enclosed.

"So how are you here?" Eiji asked. The greed wasn't going to tell him of course, to tell him would be to admit that he saw the guy as his best friend and that just wouldn't do.

When he died he had actually died. As an artificial construct he shouldn't have a soul yet when he perished it proved that he did. But instead of getting thrown back into the cycle his unique spirit decided to attach itself to Eiji. When the idiot finally expired and had his soul sent to the Throne of heroes Ankh simply followed. Not that he had a choice really, his soul was bound to his at that point.

So when Eiji was summoned as Saber he came along for the ride. However the ritual that was summoned only had enough juice to get one servant, Ankh was a tag along so he had to stay in spirit form and sleep for a while feeding off what prana he could before he could properly wake up and materialize.

"Ankh, stop ignoring me!" Damn he forgot how persistent the guy could be.

Twisting around he then retaliated. "You still owe me some ice sticks you know?" That changed Eiji's mood completely.

"Oh uhh Iri can I borrow some money…. I mean ANKH!" Turning back to his friend it seemed he was getting somewhat more annoyed.

"I don't know how this Grail stuff works." He lied. "Ask your master or something." Turning to Iri she scratched the back of her head.

"Well uhh Mr Ankh isn't really human so I guess maybe the grail saw him as a familiar? I mean it summons the mount of Rider servants so this isn't such a far stretch." She herself wasn't sure but for the time being it had satisfied the hobo.

"Well I guess we'll have to tell Emiya about you." If he had a face he'd raise an eye brow. But he didn't so he compensated by twisting his hand slightly in confusion urging Eiji to elaborate.

"Oh Kiritsugu Emiya is my real master, Iri here is just a decoy of sorts." He was impressed, to think Eiji would come up with such a devious plan.

"I don't really like it but she insisted." Nope he was still the same old idiot.

ooooooooooooooooo

Sipping his wine he listened to Kotomine's report of the situation. The silver drake like warrior was obviously a servant of Gilgamesh, he had not expected or planned for the king to intervene in the fight but he was glad that he did. Without the Gunman's interrupted Assassin would never have been able to see Saber's transformation, it appeared that the little swordsman was slightly more flexible then he first seemed.

"Thank you for that Son." Risei was visiting the Tosaka estates. Officially it was to make sure that the now surrendered Master was indeed protected and harmless. Off the papers it was ruse to further their plans.

"As you requested I've attached one Assassin to Archer, your servant was pleased to have another follower but soon asked him to keep his distance, your servant apparently has a noble phantasm that render's himself invisible." Nodding it seemed that Archer kept many tricks up his sleeve.

"Is there anything else you'd like to add Kotomine?" Tokiomi asked. There was a slight pause on the other end and a cough.

"It's not important." But it was something he wanted to say. Patiently waiting Tosaka was rewarded with Kirei's voice. "Caster's movements are hard to detect as if he can disappear through mirrors." That was an interesting piece of news. "But Berserker, I believe he will be great deal more threatening than any other servant." Raising his eye brow Risei wasn't sure what to think. The idea that the servant of Matou was a threat was laughable. The man couldn't even call himself a magus never mind a Master.

"It's as if he has presence concealment, my Assassins simply cannot track the servant, they tell me it's as if he doesn't exists, just imagine a Heroic spirit with both brute force and the subtlety for stealth!" Sipping his wine Tosaka dismissed his student's worry.

"No matter how extraordinary a servant may be, in the hands of an inept master his odds of victory are zero. It's like having King Arthur being summoned by a boy with no clue about the war!" Tosaka sure liked comparing things using King Arthur.

Then the wall above Tosaka exploded killing the man instantly. Confused and panicked Risei had fallen off his chair unsure what was going on. Were they under attack? If so why didn't the bounded fields work? Before visiting Tokiomi he had had shown him how all his defences worked but as far as he could tell right now none of them worked. It was as if they didn't exist. In fact now that he had time to think and get a better sense for his surroundings he realized that the defences were no longer there.

It wasn't as if they were tripped or destroyed, it was as if they were never there to begin with. Two figures stepped into view, a Greyish white fog with green eyes that flashed through the shroud and behind him the broken form of his master.

"Kariya Matou, this is neutral ground you cannot do this!" He spat, blood pouring from his mouth.

Frowning the Master of Berserker hesitated, he didn't expect the priest to be here.

"Kill the witness, we don't want anyone to know that we've been here." Roaring Berserker complied grabbing the man by the throat he squeezed the life out of him. Raising his fist he got ready to destroy the rest of the body.

"Wait…. What's that?" Through his struggles the priest's arm was revealed, upon it rested numerous red markings. Kariya for the first time since before the war smiled.

Thus all witnesses that were at the Tosaka estates were destroyed. No one had seen what had transpired inside, the Magus killer had surveillance set up outside but all it saw was a dishevelled Master entering and leaving. No one had seen what had transpired inside but someone had heard everything.

Kotomine's expression did not change.

ooooooooooooooooo

"It seems your master is dead." Pausing for a moment Archer regarded Assassin's words for a moment.

"Damn who am I going to steal wine from now?" The comment didn't seem to faze Assassin at all.

"I don't suppose the priest would be willing to have another servant? I mean I am pretty strong." And somewhat low on prana.

"He has extended the offer to have you as a Servant yes." Smiling beneath his helmet he wondered what kind of treasure the priest had.

"On the condition you tell him your real identity." Freezing for a moment it seemed that the jig was up. Then again the priest always suspected him of foul play. Scratching the back of his head nervously he tried to haggle.

"Tell him that I'm willing to tell him I'm not Gilgamesh and leave it at that okay?"

"You've just told me and by extension him, that and he never believed you to be Gilgamesh in the first place." Wondering how he could get around this inspiration soon struck.

"I can tell him the identities of all the servants I've seen tonight, we'll except Saber, I've known a lot of heroes when I was alive, you included even if you don't remember me." Pulling out a card he presented it to Assassin. His image was printed on and the words 'IXA Safe mode' was visible.

There was a long pause but eventually it was broken by Assassin.

"He wants you to find out Berserker's identity, if you can promise to do that he'll make a contract with you and provide you with Prana."

Archer didn't even have to think twice. "Deal." Self-preservation was one of his top priorities after all.

ooooooooooooooooo

"LANCER!" Slamming his hand against the table Kayneth was quite obviously furious. His servant however looked as if he didn't care. "Your actions tonight were unacceptable! Do you understand how you made me look?"

"Like a eel who likes to hide in the shadows?" He replied without skipping a beat.

"LANCER! Don't you understand? Have I not said that your actions reflect mine?" Nodding the servant wanted to see where this was headed. "Not only that but my actions reflect the rest of my family the proud El-Melloi line!"

"So you're saying that everyone now thinks they're eels?" He asked once more. Gritting his teeth once more Kayneth tried to remain composed. Sola on the other hand tried to hide her laughter, the Servant was getting the better of his Master quite easily. She didn't know who Lancer was but he certainly liked to talk back.

"Lancer, be aware that I can use my command seal to have you commit suicide."

"And leave yourself without a servant? Of course, I had no idea you wanted to lose the war so quickly master, you should've told me earlier I would've gotten your lovely fiancé to make a contract with me, why I'd be inside her so quick-"

"LANCER SHE'S RIGHT THERE!" Pausing for a moment to gauge his master's anger he considered the following action to be risky but fun enough to outweigh the negatives.

"And she doesn't seem to mind me at all." Sola simply blushed, taken aback by his bold statement. The silence that followed told Lancer that he had gone slightly too far.

Clearing his throat he tried to make amends with Lord El-Melloi "Well if you want I can be inside you first-"

"LANCER!" This time it was Sola who shouted, she had no idea that her fiancé's servant had swung that way and the repercussions swirled in her head.

Both men stared at the women unsure of what to say. The awkward silence luckily was soon interrupted by an alarm bell and a phone call. Glad for the distraction Sola quickly picked it up and listened to whoever had called.

After a moment she thanked the person on the other line and put the phone down.

"It seems there's a fire on the lower floors." She spoke confused. "Apparently it's arson."

Smirking Kayneth explained. "It's clearly a ploy to vacate the place." Lancer quickly caught on.

No stranger to deception and feints within battle he came to the correct conclusion. "An attack then? But by who….."

"Hmm, I'm not sure but I doubt it's Saber's master, his servant is still quite injured despite his earlier victory, a man like that wouldn't risk another confrontation so soon."

"You sure know a lot about this Master Milord." Lancer commented.

"He's known as the Magus killer, a man barely fit to be called a Mage." He joked.

"Why would a man barely fit to be called a Mage be called Magus Killer?" That sounded strange to him indeed.

"I forget that you don't have much experience in magic, well allow me to elaborate, I don't say he's not fit to be a mage because he's inept, I say it because he has no honour and that he fights like no mage ever would." Lancer seemed to understand. It was like saying that a killer no matter how effective could not be called a knight unless he behaved the correct way.

"How does he fight then?" Lancer was starting to get nervous, though for what reason he was unsure.

"He uses modern day weaponry the fool probably thinks that a gun can defeat a servant." Laughing again at his own joke he smirked.

"Here it comes." Sola thought. "He's going to start bragging about his defences again."

"No, this is certainly not Emiya, he would not be so fool as to face me now!" Sola groaned internally, he really was going to start monologuing.

"What guests we receive will enjoy the magical atelier of Kayneth El-Melloi." He began raising his hands. "A perfect atelier spanning an entire floor. Twenty four field layers. Three mana-"

And then the building shook and exploded.

If Kayneth didn't have to explain the Magus Killer to Lancer perhaps he would've been able to finish his speech, but for the moment he didn't.

The ones who had planted the bombs made their escape without harassment.

ooooooooooooooooo

"I accept your contract you fake priest." Said the Archer to his new master.

"Please do not call me that." He replied stone faced.

"Doesn't feel nice now that the shoe is on the other foot does it? Calling me a fake king and all."

Assassin replied. "But you are a fake."

"Details, details, lighten up would you? Or did Vampires eat your babies?"

Assassin really wanted to punch the smug bastard right now, insulting a man of the cloth and his Master at that was unforgivable.

**Omake:**

A what if story of Crack proportions?

"So what seems to be the problem?" The relationship therapist asked. The balding man had a pen at the ready with a clipboard in his hands.

Uryuu Ryuunosuke glared at Caster who looked away. "He keeps having his SNAKE-!"

"It's a cobra!" Shouted Caster.

"Now now, let's just let Ryuunosuke finish his side of the story first." He said neutrally. "Continue."

"Well he keeps having cooOOobra eat all my pieces of art!"

"Are you sure it's intentional? Perhaps you're making your art out of something the animal would find appetising."

"Well I make it out of fresh human corpses that we kill ourselves."

"Excuse me?"

"I want to make art out of people, he just wants to throw them to his animals!"  
"I need PRANA DAMNIT!"

"I don't even know what that is!"

The therapist was quite terrified and was silently pressing the panic button.

"Look kid, I admit your stuff looks real nice but my familiars have got to eat."

"You think my art is nice? Really?"

"Well yeah, especially the children, never thought a bladder was so pretty."

The Therapist kept on pressing that button wondering where security was.

"Wow I didn't…. tell you what, from now on I'll let you have all the men okay?" Pausing for a moment Caster soon nodded.

"Alright, you get the women and children and I get the men sounds good." The pair turned towards the Therapist.

He went straight to the Cobra.


	4. Chapter 4

**Fate: All Riders.**

Chapter 4: Fight to Survive.

Aka. The obligatory Rin Chapter.

* * *

Avalon was more or less useless at this point. Various tests concluded that even in the presence of Saber it was just a very nice looking paper weight. It appeared that the presence of the real King Arthur was required to power the noble phantasm's healing abilities. Irisviel believed that her husband secretly blamed his servant for being summoned, resenting his very existence. Without the sheath she knew she wouldn't last long after the first few servants would die.

Sitting at a desk with a map in front of him the Magus Killer made a motion with his hand. His faithful friend Maiya came forwards. The Einzbern wasn't sure what to make of the women but she could tell that the girl loved her husband almost as much as she did. Despite this no ill feelings ever had come from her realization, she just wanted Emiya to be happy, if having two women made him happy then she would gladly share him.

Looking over the map Maiya spoke up. "His Servant most likely came from the blind spot here." They were of course speaking of Kariya and Berserker, the whole event was disturbing to say the least.

"Likely but not certain." He replied taking a puff of his smoke.

Officially Risei had declared the area neutral ground because Tosaka refused to leave the area and thus visited often to make sure he wasn't plotting anything. Unofficially Emiya of course had doubts, the church and Tosaka family always had strong ties, for all anyone else knew they could've been plotting together. Not that it mattered anymore.

However despite the grave news it seemed to calm Kiritsugu somewhat. He reasoned that Kotomine Kirei would most likely head for the Matou next, after all the man did just kill his father and Mentor figure. Finding out that they were mentor and student wasn't exactly difficult.

He assumed that this was why he spared his old teacher rather than killing him on the spot. Either that or it was all staged, it was hard to tell but if the mysterious Dragonfly servant was any indication then someone was summoning more Servants, whether it was another heroic spirit or master was of no consequence, at least not to the Magus Killer for the time being.

A red hand floated into the room.

"Oi, why are we waiting around! We should be out there hunting this guy down!" Iri had gotten used to the hand by now, in fact she felt a kinship with it but for what reason she simply had no idea.

"You said this guy has a bunch of command seals right? That means we should kill him and take them all for ourselves!" Shaking his head her husband rejected the idea.

"A Master with so many Seals is simply too dangerous without a plan, however our target isn't him." Pointing at the map he elaborated. "We're going after Kotomine next, he's going to be distracted with Berserker so it would be the perfect time to remove him from the war." She couldn't blame him for being so focussed on the priest, something about him felt off.

"He's dangerous, competent and he has six command seals. Under normal circumstances I would not engage him, however with only one Servant, one of stealth going against Berserker we can kill him with reduced resistance while he's distracted." The red hand seemed to agree with all this, despite being a single limb it was rather emotive.

Frowning Saber got up and spoke his mind. "I know that we have to be a bit unfair sometimes to win but don't you think this is a bit too far?" The red hand simply smacked the back of hero's head as if that was enough to convey the point.

"Ow! And you! Ankh! What's your role in all this, you're not strong enough to fight Servants!" Smirking…. Well they thought Ankh was smirking he revealed his plan.

"Of course you'd think that, even after all the time we spent together you've already forgotten one of my powers, Emiya already put me into account."

"So why aren't we going after Caster? Didn't you guys tell me he was murdering people?"

"You idiot, Magus don't care about that crap, they only care if they get found out! Caster and his master leave no traces of the bodies behind so everyone just thinks they're missing, sure people will investigate but what are they gonna find huh?" Emiya frowned at that. As much as he would like to dispense justice he knew he couldn't, at least not yet. He had to be practical, to save someone you had to kill another and he was going to save the world.

* * *

Kariya still had a mission, he had to win the war and give the grail to his father to rescue Sakura. Killing Tokiomi was just a step, a very satisfying step but a single step none the less. The priest, his presence was unexpected but his death was needed. With Tosaka out of the way he could continue his war. However there was one problem, he wasn't much of a Magus at all, he had no idea how to implant command seals onto his own body.

Carrying the dismembered arm of Risei the Matou had limped his way home, if he was to win this war he'd need the command seals and only one person he knew would be willing to help. Gritting his teeth in anger he swore that he'd suffer any humiliation to save Sakura. Berserker was in spirit form but despite this the strain on his body was still heavy, why did the Servant need so much Prana?

"Hey Berserker." He asked trying to distract himself from the pain. "What's your wish?" He of course received no answer. Making it to the front door he slumped against it catching his breath. Standing back up he went to knock but it seemed it was unneeded.

"Ahh my son, it is so good to see that you've returned in good health!" Turning around the old man was outside behind him, how he had got there escaped his senses.

"I heard some disturbing news earlier of a Master attacking neutral ground killing the overseer in the process." Smiling he chuckled. "Surprised I knew? Your body is mine boy, of course I know what you've been doing, you think all those bugs serve you just because of your shining personality?" That's right, the implants technically belonged to Zouken.

"Well I know why you're here, come now let's see those Command seals and see what we can do with them." The operation was filled with pain, horror, humiliation and many bugs.

Kariya endured it all.

He left as soon as he could, the longer he stayed there the most likely he'd be found. Though he liked the idea of his old man being caught in the cross fire he still had Sakura to think about. Gritting his teeth he limped away into the dark night.

* * *

In his civilian form he laid on his back. "Don't know, don't care." He simply said before rolling over for a nap. Gripping his fists tighter Waver groaned in frustration.

"Don't give me that crap! You're my Servant! You should fight other Servants! Don't you have a wish!?" Before he could continue Rider was in his face frowning. Silence followed and the awkward atmosphere fermented until Waver could not stand it anymore.

"Damn it you idiot what's with that look!" He yelled backing away.

Rider continued to deliver his death stare. Eventually he sighed and backed down, intimidating his master was no fun especially when it was so easy.

"Just don't make light of my wish, it's really important." Now that he thought about it neither of them knew each other's wish or why they were fighting. Rider was too caught up in the moment and Waver…. Well he was too caught up in Rider's moments.

"Well what's your wish then?" Sitting down he gave the heroic spirit his full attention.

Pausing for a moment it seemed that the Heroic Spirit was trying to find the words, whatever the wish was it did seem important. Perhaps he wanted to save someone that he couldn't when he was alive?

"Hey kid? You know how the throne of heroes works right?" Nodding Waver of course knew, he had researched the topic extensively before entering the war.

"Well what if I was to tell you that I wanted to remove some one from that place so that they could rest easy? Eyes widening Waver almost chocked, what he had just suggested was almost insane. Even with the power of the Holy Grail such a thing was absurd. Seemingly insulted by his master's reaction he retaliated.

"Well what's your wish then hey? Why do you fight for the Grail?" Stopping he soon realized that he had entered the war simply to insult and show his teacher Kayneth that he was wrong.

"I don't really have a wish but if I did have one I guess I'd wish for respect." Crossing his arms Rider seemed disappointed.

"You dumbass, that's not real respect then! Why wish for something you could get yourself! It's like going to a really nice steak house and ordering toast for your meal it's just a waste!" Grumbling Waver couldn't really argue with that logic.

"Well why should you care? You're here for your own reasons and I'm here for my own besides you should be out there fighting Servants!"

"Again with the stupid Servant talk FINE! I'll go out there right now and fight a Servant you're coming along!" Shocked by his Servant's new found initiative he soon regretted the outburst as he found himself roaring down the road on the Heroic spirit's motor cycle.

* * *

Kotomine was on a phone call at the moment, to see the priest with such a modern day device was somewhat amusing. The receiver of the call was none other than Aoi, the wife of the now deceased Tokiomi Tosaka.

"Aoi, I'm sorry to bring you this news but your husband has been killed."

There was silence on the other end, the shock had yet to settle in.

"Th-that can't be…. He had plans, defences h-he had you."

Another length of silence followed.

"I wasn't enough." Soft sobbing followed, Kirei patiently waited for her to process everything.

"I-I'm coming over, I want to see my husband."

"You can't, it's still too dangerous here."  
"I'M COMING TO SEE MY HUSBAND DAMNIT!"

Then with a cold voice he answered back.

"You will not, if you do I will desecrate the corpse, I will forcefully rip the family crest from his body and render it inert! I will burn what remains of his body one limb at a time! I will scatter the ashes to the wind in different places, I will turn his house to dust, I will salt the very land he lived on if you come!"

Aoi continued to sob but stayed silent.

"I want you and Rin safe, for that I will do anything, it was your husband's greatest wish that this happen even if it costed his life or his body."

Aoi understood the priest but still she cried.

"I will preserve the body and when there is time send it back so that you may extract the family crest, for the time being I must prepare for the coming war." Lingering he continued to listen to the woman cry. Eventually he put the phone down disconnecting the call.

Coming around the corner and entering the room where his Servants awaited an odd sight greeted his vision.

The Heroic Spirits were playing cards. Where they got the pieces escaped the priest.

"Oh c'mon, this is so unfair you lot always gang up on me!" Shaking his head Archer turned to his Master.

"Well you look like you're in a good mood! Think of a way to kill Kariya I take it?"

* * *

Caster had a decent amount of Prana at this point. More than enough to use his most Noble Phantasm several times over but despite this he continued needlessly murdering civilians.

Uryuu Ryuunosuke was overjoyed when Caster announced that he no longer needed to feed men to his Contract Monsters, this meant more corpses for art. To celebrate this event the two of them went on a kidnapping spree. If killing a family was fun, then killing dozens upon dozens of them at the same time was sure to be a party!

Maybe he'd let his monsters loose to scare the children, have Venosnaker spit acid at them. Perhaps Uryuu could do something with that and make it more pretty. It was strange, the idea of battle still excited him but more and more he found himself making excuses to not participate. Not because he was scared but more because he liked Uryuu's company, it was as if the guy understood him.

"Oi Ryuunosuke, take this." Handing his master a card with the image of a pink manta ray on it he stretched his head.

"If you carry this then the contract monster will follow you around, should keep you safe." Smiling Uryuu pocketed the item before thanking Caster and setting off.

-Some time later-

This was a pretty small haul honestly. Without Caster helping he found abducting children was quite hard. In fact it was harder then he remembered it, perhaps having a demon around made him lazy? Nodding his head he mentally agreed with the assessment. Crouching down he beckoned another child closer.

"Hey kid I have something cool I wanna show you." The naïve child simply chose to believe the stranger ignoring the warnings in his mind that his parents had given him. Before he knew it the stranger had pushed something against his mouth and nose, the strong smell knocking him out instantly. Grabbing the small child the orange haired psycho quickly dragged him into the alley to tie him up. Taking the small bundle he quickly ran to his hide out.

A dusty abandoned bar. Leaving the kid next to a chair some movement caught his eye. Thinking that he had been discovered he quickly turned realizing that it was just the Manta Ray. The monster was content to just watch him from inside the mirror.

"Geeze, don't scare me man!" He said quickly calming down. Despite being the least magically inclined of all the Master's he had adapted very swiftly to the idea of magic and by extension monsters and demons. "And thanks for your hard work! I'm sure your Master appreciates it!" Though unaffected by the praise Uryuu complimented the thing often as if it was a friend.

* * *

Rin couldn't believe it, she would not believe it! After secretly listening on her mother's conversation with Kotomine she couldn't stand it anymore. "That damn fake priest!" Clutching her fist she made her plans, she would find the truth, if he was still alive then he'd need her help. If the priest was telling the truth though…. She didn't want to think about it at all.

While her mother grieved Rin made her escape. Through the night she ran through the streets, the simple magic compass that her father had given her guiding the way. Said compass detected the presence of magic, he had warned her that if it started reacting erratically then whatever it was detecting was out of her league and that she would run.

But tonight retreat was out of the question. It was her family that was on the line, she would not run away. Through twisting streets and bending roads she eventually found herself outside an alley way. Outside a young orange haired man walked out of a nearby building. Noticing her presence he smiled and kneeled down to her height.

"Hey kid, does this rag smell like chloroform to you?" Seriously who fell for that kind of trick, it was so stupid that Rin couldn't frown, so stupid that her only choice was to smile.

"Oi oi kid, that's a pretty nasty expression you got there." Somewhat intimidated by the little girl he stood back up. The compass kept pointing towards the man and that's when she saw it. Red markings on the back of his hand, he was a master!

When her father had entered the war Rin studied all she could about the contest. The Grail, the hero summoning system, the classes everything! So when she saw those markings she instinctively knew he was a master. Was he the man that killed her father? No her dad was much too smart to be killed, too smart to be killed by this master at least. Coming closer towards Rin the orange haired man extended his reach.

"C'mon little girl, just take a whiff of this, I'm telling you that it smells nice, like BLOOD!" He seemed to genuinely believe that blood smelt good, this didn't calm her down at all. Taking a step back her compass began to go nuts, streaks of electricity arced out striking the nearby ground.

"What IS this?" Yelling in surprise the man began to back off. "Hey hey Pinky help me out here!" Then as if by some magic the Manta Ray appeared slipping into reality via a discarded mirror next to a trash can.

Tripping over Rin fell backwards, was this a Servant? So much power! But this couldn't be a servant father had told her that Servants were Heroic spirits from ages long past, heroes like Hercules or Gilgamesh! Something like a giant pink Manta Ray could never be a Servant!

Slowly but surely the beast closed the distance ready to devour the girl in front of it ignoring the sparks of electricity coming from her amulet. Then lightning struck a more powerful thunderclap louder than the ones that her compass emitted.

Looking up to where the sound came from it seemed her sight was blocked by a cloud of dust.

Before the smoke could clear a voice rang out from the darkness.

"The heavens cry out!" The smoke began to clear.

"The earth cries out!" The glint from his helmet could be seen through the dust.

"The people cry out!" A black haired boy began to get off the bike.

"They cry out for me to destroy evil!" The smoke had mostly cleared up by now to reveal a bug like face.

"Listen up, evildoers...I am the warrior of justice, Kamen Rider Stronger!" A wind passes by flicking the white scarf he wore behind him in a dramatic fashion.

The orange haired man wasn't sure to make of this so he tried to find out. "Hey what's going o-"

"**KABUTOLAW THUNDER!"** he shouted as he drove his bike off the roof. His body surged with power, his bike hummed with lightning! The glowing motor cycle struck true ploughing right through the pink Manta Ray throwing it back into the mirror world broken and defeated.

Skidding to a stop he pointed at the Orange haired master.

"YOU THERE I AM RIDER! GO CALL THE GUY WHO SUMMONED THAT PINK MONSTER!"

"You mean caster?" A dumbfounded look was plastered on his face.

"YEAH THAT GUY GO FIND HIM AND TELL HIM THAT A RIDER OF JUSTICE WANTS TO FIGHT HIM GOT THAT?" Nodding to the heroic spirit he was more than happy to carry out the order, he did remember hearing Caster talking about how fun it was to fight Riders back in the day and it seemed that this guy was one of them.

Running off he was soon gone, the black haired boy had his palm against his face for some reason.

"Little girl I am Rider, Shigeru Jo, you can call me Uncle Shigeru or just Mr Jo, I don't mind which." This, this was a real servant, her compass finally decided to die. Stuttering to a halt it no longer pointed to anything but the ground. This was a Heroic spirit right?

"You're a hero right?" She asked with conviction in her voice.

"Well of course!" He quickly answered. Waver was climbing down the building at this point.

"This means you fight for justice right?" She continued to stare at the Servant.

"Well yes, as a Rider I am a hero of justice!" He proclaimed proudly.

"Then you'll find the person who killed my father and avenge him!" Such a question from such an innocent looking girl surprised him.

Pausing for a moment he stared at her. "Of course I will." He promised her grasping her hand.

"My father…. He was a master in the war you know." The black haired Master himself stopped, he was planning to erase her memories of the event but if she was part of a family of Magus then it wouldn't be needed. Regardless he felt he needed to do something for the girl.

Scolding Rider the boy spoke. "She must mean Tokiomi Tosaka then Rider, the one killed by Berserker. He was the one that you didn't care about and didn't want to fight." Rin kept staring at Rider not once paying attention to the other Master.

"Very well, as a Rider I promise you Rin I will bring justice to the one who had killed your father but first I must find and defeat Caster, I don't want to see a child hurt and captured." Rin accepted this promise. Something in her head clicked.

"Wait Rider, the master, he came from inside there, maybe that's where his hide out is?" Nodding the Servant stood up and made his way over the abandoned bar.

Suffice to say many families were reunited with their children the very next day.

* * *

Stretching his neck once more Caster felt frustrated, the Manta Ray he had sent to protect his master had been defeated. Feeling the drain on his life force he continued to feed the contract monster Prana, he'd have to find more people to replenish it later.

"Are you sure this guy called himself a Rider?" The question itself was laced with feelings of hope.

"Yeah and he was talking about justice and stuff, he had a bike to!" That was nostalgic.

In a war fighting someone called Rider for a wish. It was even better that this Rider had ideals of justice. To fight such an opponent again was something he looked forwards to. How would he kill him? Would he mash him to a pulp? Would he slice him into tiny little pieces? Would he just sick his contract monsters on him? But first he'd need Prana to heal his monster.

"How vexing."

* * *

Kayneth didn't like surprises, he didn't like being hurt and he certainly did not like Kiritsugu Emiya after the whole fiasco. What other word did justice to the event that had transpired last night? Using mundane explosives to combat a Master, had the man no honour to speak of? For any other master this would've meant death. However the whole mess was simply a road bump on his road to victory for Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald.

Surely his brilliance knew no bounds, with his mastery of magic he had used the mystic code Volumen Hydragyrum to engulf him and his fiancé to protect them from the attack. Lancer was excluded for obvious reasons as he himself was a heroic spirit so Kayneth lost no sleep over the Servants supposed safety.

Focussing on the present Kayneth checked his clothes, everything as far as he could tell was in pristine condition. "You better prepare yourself Magus Killer for soon I'll be the one known as the one Magus that even you can't kill, in fact I'll be known as the Magus who ended your life!" Entering the Einzbern bounded field he announced his presence boldly.

Emiya wasn't the only person who could fight dirty.


	5. Chapter 5

**Fate: All Riders.**

Chapter 5: Jumping in.

It appeared someone had entered the Boundary field and Emiya wasn't taking any chances. Having Iri scry the intruder the Magus Killer soon discovered the perpetrator of the attack, one Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald. He was a very talented and somewhat rightly arrogant Magus, the master of Lancer. Despite the explosives that himself and Maiya had set up earlier and detonated it appeared that the man was unharmed and no worse for wear, the exact reason why was following him.

The large blob of mercury, the Volumen Hydragyrum was just a couple feet behind its master. The mystic code was a powerful one, if he remembered his research properly then that was the only one of its kind in existence. It's presence complicated things. "Iri, can you see Lancer anywhere?" Frowning his wife continued to spy on Kayneth, the image was slightly out of focus but accurate enough to identify the Master. "The presence of a Servant is directly where Kayneth is, I assume Lancer is in Spirit form watching over his Master." Strange, why not follow his master in a physical body? This was enemy territory after all.

"I'll get ready, Maiya are the guns ready?" She nodded in confirmation, her professionalism was appreciated. Running up to his real master Saber had a surprised expression on his face.

"Hey what about me and Ankh!?" Shaking his head he addressed his wife.

"Iri, you take the pair for protection." Wait was he planning to take on a servant by himself? "See if you can catch Lancer by surprise." Okay that was just crazy; Saber didn't like this at all.

"Maiya, make sure nothing unexpected happens, I'm counting on you." Nodding once more she decided to add her own comment.

"Don't worry, I'll guard everyone's back." Furrowing his brow Emiya checked his equipment, the whole conflict was disconcerting. Though he didn't like it he used his wife's health as a way to gauge the war's progress. Without the help of Avalon it should've been more obvious but as far as he could tell she was perfectly healthy.

This lead him to conclude that the Demon Archer that was killed by Assassin at the start of the war was a fake, someone had the ability to make counterfeit Servants or at least ones that didn't fill the grail. Considering one of these fakes had attacked Lancer it was unlikely Kayneth's doing. It was true that the man could've staged it to remove suspicion but he did use a command seal during the last confrontation with the Dragon Fly Servant.

There was a chance he was responsible but it was too small for now.

The more likely suspect was either Kotomine Kirei or the now deceased Tokiomi Tosaka. The first fake servant was on the Tosaka estates, whatever the case was with the first encounter it was certain that the priest now had the means to create more Servants. Out of everyone he was the most likely suspect and thus he was the largest threat. Looking back at the crystal ball that his wife manipulated he narrowed his eyes as another thought passed through his mind.

"Since when did Kayneth wear glasses and highlight his hair blue?"

* * *

Walking boldly through the front door Kayneth introduced himself, as a lord he had to have manners.

"I, the tenth head of the Archibald family, Kayneth El-Melloi, have arrived!" Something about him seemed off. "Einzbern Master, let us battle for the Grail with our lives and honour!"

Standing at the now destroyed entrance the man simply stood, it was obvious that he was in grave danger but his supreme confidence shielded him from fear. Grinning, almost playfully he began to take a few steps forwards, the security cameras of course tracked his every step.

Walking into a trip wire the space around him was filled with deadly shrapnel. The area around the mage was instantly filled with dust however as that cleared it became apparent that his Mystic code had saved him. An orb of silver enclosed the man and once no apparent danger was detected it dutifully warped back into the original shape.

"You rely on traps?" He asked in a mocking tone. "You'll need better bait then that Einzbern. Very well I'll play along for now."

Using the Hydragyrum Kayneth had easily found his quarry, the amount of information wasn't very specific but was accurate enough to get what he wanted.

Slicing up the ground from the floor below he used the Mystic code to carry him up a level, in front of him stood the Einzbern.

"I was searching for a rat but it seemed I've found a much better catch." Was it just him or did the girl dye her hair red?

* * *

Flexing her fingers Irisviel quickly opened the door behind herself before dashing through, the sudden movement seemed to have caught the other Master off guard. The location of Lancer was undetermined, it was assumed that he was in spirit form but even the scrying magic she had used earlier failed to provide exact specifics. Emiya didn't want to go in without intelligence so here she was gathering intelligence.

Saber was kept on standby, the heroic spirit didn't like the idea but both her husband and his floating friend managed to talk him down. Speaking of Ankh he seemed to provide a measure healing and strength to the homunculus. The 'Greed' as he called himself was able to possess human beings and boost their physical abilities to keep the host from dying to some degree. Whether this was actual healing or a way to extend life was unknown even to the spirit but he did know enough to use his abilities here in battle. A sliver of mercury flashed across her vision, diving to the side she managed to avoid having her head impaled.

Something about Kayneth seemed wrong.

"Come now Einzbern, don't play hard to get!" He called out. "I do love what you've done with your hair but I must admit I prefer blue." A nearby wall simply exploded as another lance of silver obliterated it. Rushing into the dust she dived past the hall way, things weren't going according to plan. It was hoped that the traps would force Lancer to appear and defend his master, however the Mystic code was doing a fine job of that without the Servant.

Iri didn't have much offensive magic but she was sure that she had enough to make Kayneth panic. The dodging, the running it wasn't all for nothing. Emiya had everything planned out, the tripwire for the claymores at the entrance was just a test. The big ball of magic mercury prevented the shrapnel from reaching its master but it did not stop the wire from hugging his leg.

All that dodging was just a way of laying down invisible wires. "Hey ASS HOLE EAT THIS!" Another voice echoed from the mouth of Irisviel to the surprise of Kayneth. Using all her strength she pulled expecting the wires she had laid all over him to constrict and crush his body. Arms and legs pressed against his chest in an awkward manner.

He laughed.

"Oh, it seems I've been caught in a net." He mused as if the crushing pressure did not exist but judging by the lack of response his Mystic Code exhibited it wasn't hard to believe otherwise.

"It is a shame that this net has too many holes." Bursting out with sheer strength he grinned.

"Mind if I string you along?" That way of speaking, that phrase, the stance he took! It all belonged to Lancer! If this was a servant then she had to go all out, before now she only used a portion of Ankh's power, enough that he manifested himself through her hair. Submitting full control over to the greed her hand began changing, multitudes of coins seemed to shimmer along the length of her arm as a red hand replaced her own.

Ankh could have seized control at any time with much effort but subtlety was something he knew that was needed at times.

"So you're Lancer huh? Never thought you could disguise yourself like this." Lancer recognized the hand; it was the thing that floated near the Einzbern at the docks at the end of the fight. He assumed that it was a familiar considering the amount of Prana coming from it but it seemed to be a lot more intelligent.

"Oh? Disguise you say? What if Kayneth was an Ancestor of mine? I am a heroic spirit, one that's quite the catch when it comes to ladies if I say so myself, such a thing isn't too farfetched. I'll tell you right now that I am the first El-Melloi Archibald!" Snorting the homunculus stared down his opponent; he clearly didn't believe the story.

"That's not your body, I'm guessing you took control somehow like I'm doing now, the only problem is that I'm just not sure what you are." Lifting his hand Lancer made a quick motion as a silver spike shot towards the red haired greed who luckily rolled backwards to avoid the attack.

"I'll tell you what I am." Making another motion the spike expanded and split into multiple needles penetrating the nearby walls, Ankh narrowly avoided this attack as he quickly ran around the corner out of sight.

"I'M MORE HANDSOME THAN YOU!" He yelled to make sure that his opponent could hear him.

Kayneth groaned internally, it seemed that his Servant's actions would literally reflect his own in this battle, he was sure that he could regain control of his body with enough will power but that would defeat the purpose of this plan and doing so would stun and incapacitate them both for a shot moment, something that simply wouldn't do in enemy territory.

"Focus you idiot! She's getting away!"

* * *

"Come now, don't be all crabby about this, I don't bite." Sang a voice behind them.

"Damnit, I had no idea Lancer could possess his master, I guess this means your scrying powers aren't messed up then huh Irisviel?" A voice in his head told him that he was indeed correct on the subject.

Running down a new corridor it seemed they were gaining ground, the voice behind them began to fade.

"I love slippery catches, so much more satisfying when you weigh them in!"

"Damnit, where's the backup? Didn't your husband bug your clothes so that he could hear all this? Doesn't he know we're dealing with a Servant now? Where's Eiji!?" Ankh was the only person in the group who didn't call the Hero 'Saber'. It was kind of endearing but Emiya found the practice to be dangerous, even if no one in the modern age recognized his legend that didn't mean the other Heroic Spirits wouldn't.

"Come out to play Einzbern! Come now, let me just reel you in!" The voice was a lot closer than he had anticipated, running away around another corner he found himself face to face with a blob of mercury.

"Hook line and sinker!" They were tricked! It never occurred to Ankh that Lancer would separate himself from the weird mystic code. He just assumed that it would follow its master everywhere. Apparently he used his voice to herd them right where he wanted them to be. Coming around the corner on the other side of the hall way Kayneth smiled and waved.

*BANG* a bullet flew through a window shattering it.

Lancer blinked, his fashionable blue coat began to turn red. Struggling to keep control he crumbled to the ground before ejecting himself from his now prone host revealing his normal armoured form. It was at this moment that Saber materialized in front of him in his battle armour. Though Lancer himself was uninjured the shock from having a bullet go through his host's body left him somewhat dazed. A battle in such close proximity to his master was simply too dangerous.

"I don't suppose you could let me go right? I'd prefer it if my master didn't die." Saber hesitated, defeating a heroic spirit was fine, they were all technically just immortal ghosts anyways but a human being? Still he held his stance, Lancer though seemingly honourable did strike him as a trickster.

"I'll tell you what, you let me and my master go and I won't sick that blob of silver over there on your red head friend." Saber froze, it was a lie of course, Lancer didn't have control over the thing, only Kayneth did but the swordsman didn't know that.

"I think it's a fair trade don't you think?" Kayneth was still conscious if only barely, he registered that he had been shot by a gun of all things. To be brought low by a modern piece of technology was a huge blow to his honour but he understood that there were times when you should retreat. The idea of being prone, bleeding and near a battle of Servants was not appealing. To help with his Servant's facade he mentally commanded the Volumen Hydragyrum to produce spikes in a menacing manner.

The red haired Einzbern took a step back giving alternating looks between Lancer, the blob of mercury and Saber. "C'mon Eiji, don't leave us all hanging." Lowering his sword Saber silently nodded, he would let them go.

*BANG!* another nearby window shattered.

And Kayneth felt his everything burn.

* * *

No one threatened his wife and got away with it. When he saw the mystic code produce thorns he quickly loaded his Thompson contender with an origin bullet. He only had a limited amount and was told that he should only use them for the most important and dire situations.

The thing threatened Iri, that was enough for him.

He originally meant to snipe Kayneth's prone form and was simply waiting for Saber to distract Lancer for long enough to make it a viable option leaving Maiya to cover his wife. However when she told him that the ball of mercury was producing long pointy objects something in the Magus Killer snapped.

Throwing aside his sniper rifle he spoke.

"Time triple Accel."

Firing an origin bullet from the range he sat was out of the question, he had to get closer, he needed more time. Luckily making time was his specialty. Jumping off the tree that overlooked the outside of the Einzbern mansion Emiya dashed forwards at ungodly speeds leaping over obstacles and rough terrain. Pushing off against another tree he used the momentum to latch onto a branch bringing him in range of his target.

Moments later both Emiya and Kayneth ran out of time.

*Bang!*another window shattered.

* * *

Lancer had no idea what was going or why his master was behaving the way he did. Was his life tied to that blob of mercury? That would explain why the man had so much control over it but now was not the right time to think about such things. Materializing his lance he then grabbed onto his master's broken form.

"Good you're still alive, would be a pity for you to die." Saber had tensed up, seeing Lancer holding his weapon put him on edge. "I'm happy you're still alive master but we must leave now, your wife would be so sad if you perished now." The other heroic spirit hesitated at the mention of a spouse, perfect. Turning around Lancer kept an eye out, the gun man was still nearby.

The angle of the shot, the sound it all pointed to someone outside. Peering out of the now broken window Lancer spied a man in a black cloak balancing on a rather thick branch. Lowering his gun the man simply stared at the servant.

"My my, I suppose you've realized that shooting me would be useless don't you?" Nodding it seemed to be the case. Being so close to the Einzbern was probably another reason why he was not provoked. "Well I suppose I'll take my leave, next time we meet I'll be sure to reel you all in."

*CRASH!* another window shattered as Lancer jumped to safety. His master groaned in pain though Lancer paid no attention to it. His master always groaned for one reason or another.

* * *

Emiya was disappointed in Saber but he did not voice it. The servant in his eye's should have either destroyed the Mystic code earlier or rushed in to kill Kayneth thus putting Lancer on the defensive to give Iri enough time to get away. From what he saw Lancer wasn't one to harm women. The heroic spirit chased his wife but not once had delivered a lethal blow, everything that was thrown at Iri was slower then it should've been.

His earlier traps confirmed this, the Volumen Hydragyrum was quick enough to defend its master against mines, killing someone at such a close range should've been no problem for it. Yet Lancer seemed to hesitate, why Saber did not see these facts was beyond the Magus Killer. However that was behind him, now he had to deal with the present.

With the help of Ankh Iri had been able to get away with a few minor bruises and scratches, the greed apparently was able to heal it's host to a small degree and increase her toughness when possessing her. A poor substitute for Avalon but it came with the added bonus of his reflexes and experience in battle. If nothing else he had made Iri a lot safer on the frontline of war.

With Kayneth under the effects of his origin bullet it was only a matter of time before Lancer faded away. The bullet had rendered the man's magical circuits useless, in the worst case scenario his fiancé would take up the man's command seals. However according to his research the woman wasn't a combatant, eliminating her would be relatively easy compared to her would be husband. The only issue then of course would be the servant.

What he lacked in raw power he made up for in skill and the unique ability to possess his master. He was a troublesome servant but something certainly manageable.

* * *

Kayneth slept and dreamt of demons and monsters that travelled through time. He dreamt of women, lies and words with hundreds of hooks to them. Women that would love him for the lies he weaved. He dreamt of a family not of his blood but still family none the less. He dreamt of seducing more women.

He dreamt of a place where a monster like him belonged. Of a train that never stopped running in the sands of time. He dreamt of dying, as Gaia simply forgot his existence leaving nothing of his body but sand. He dreamt of delicious colourful coffee. He dreamt of women falling in love with him.

He remembered coming back to life as a boy remembered his name. He dreamt of one woman that ignored his advances turning into a younger girl. He remembered a place that he belonged. He remembered leaving that boy behind, he remembered being content. He dreamt of the boy that gave him his name and his body.

It was good to be free.

* * *

Waking up in a cold sweat he realized he was having a dream, his servant's dream. His name was Urataros? Kayneth wasn't too familiar with Asian folklore but in preparation for the Holy Grail war he had read up on it. His Servant had reminded him of Urashima Taro but was certainly not the same person despite sharing some similarities with the legend. His turtle like armour, his way of using fishing metaphor's, if he wasn't the Urashima of folklore he was at the very least influenced by it.

Attempting to get up he found himself held by some unseen force. Still struggling he questioned what was wrong with his body however a familiar voice soon filled his ears.

"It seems you're awake" His fiancé, Sola-Ui was here. This fact didn't stop him from struggling to get up. Calling out he tried to make sense of the situation.

"Sola-Ui." He called almost desperately. "What is this?" His body was bound to the bed he rested on.

"Why am I here?" He asked. Casually as if a dutiful wife Sola twisted a towel wringing the hot water from the fabric leaving the liquid to splash down into the basin below it.

"You don't remember what happened at all?" Kayneth paused, being possessed by Lancer was a unique experience. Being shot in the chest was noticeable but the pain was blunted as if it was another man's problem. However after the Heroic spirit was forced from his body the after effects took full force.

"I was shot, Lancer was near me, I couldn't really see but I could hear his plan." Despite being a dishonourable pervert Kayneth silently admitted that the man was quite cunning.

"He pretended that he could use Volumen Hydragyrum so that we could retreat, I played along but…" He paused as if the words didn't need to be spoken.

"What happened to my body?" Gently lifting his hand that held the command seals Sola began to clean it.

"There are signs that every Magic Circuit in your body went out of control." He eyes held pity. "It's a miracle that you didn't die instantly." The realization hit him hard, he didn't know what to say. "For now, all I've been able to do is regenerate your organs." Had the damage been that extensive?

"Your Magic Circuits have been completely destroyed you'll never use magic again." A tear escaped his eyes, he tried to resist this fact, it couldn't be true!

"I…I…" His fiancé continued to look down in pity.

"Don't cry, Kayneth. It's too soon to give up." Brushing the tears away with the cloth she continued. "We haven't lost yet." With the tears now gone, the encouragement washed away his sadness.

"Sola-Ui…." He was glad that he would marry this woman.

"If the Grail really is an omnipotent wish-granting device, your complete recovery should be more than possible. You only need to win, if you succeed and claim the Grail, everything will return to how it was." She explained putting her hand over his where the command seals lay.

"So…Okay, Kayneth?" It was obvious what she was implying. "Give me the Command Spells. I'll take over as Lancer's Master In order to bring you the Grail." He couldn't let her do that!

"N-No!" He had to protect her!

"You don't trust me? I, who will marry into the Archibald family?" Her voice sounded so sincere yet…

"No, but…" She laughed at Lancer's jokes, she protested when he made an innuendo against him yet said nothing when one was directed at her. "Sola-Ui, Lancer isn't as admirable as you think!" He was just trying to protect her, why couldn't she see that?

"Why do you say that?" She asked innocently as if she didn't know.

"When I asked him what he'd wish for, he replied that he doesn't seek the Holy Grail." Kayneth purposely left out the part about wishing for the love of all women, which was revealed to be a joke seconds later.

"A Servant with no desire for the Grail is categorically impossible. He must be hiding something." Like his true appearance for one. "But no matter what he's hiding, he must obey me as long as I bear these Command Spells."

"Kayneth…." Sola interrupted her husband with strained politeness, it seemed her patience was at an end.

"I won't give you the Command Spells." Could she not see that he was protecting her?

Sighing she gave her response. "Kayneth, you don't seem to understand. That we must win this, no matter what." Dropping the wash clothes she then firmly grabbed onto his pinkie and then began to pull it backwards. And she continued to pull and pull and pull.

Until it suddenly snapped. Why couldn't she see that he was trying to protect her?

"You know, Kayneth." Her tone of voice was the same as before yet her eye's now seemed disinterested, it was a terrifying thing to behold. The pain in his hand and the straps that held him down only amplified his fear.

"An unskilled spiritual healer like myself cannot hope to extract ingrained Command Spells by force." She lovingly clasped his hand again. "I can take these without resistance if the bearer agrees with it." Why couldn't she see that he was trying to protect her?

"If you won't give me your consent, then I guess I'll have to… cut your right arm off. Well?" Tears flowed freely now, Kayneth still couldn't understand why she couldn't see that he was trying to protect her.

* * *

Lancer didn't really like this situation at all. Kayneth wasn't exactly the easiest person to get along with but he was fun (and easy) to tease. If nothing else the man reminded him to a small degree of a certain red monster and that in itself was rather nice. In other words he was fond of his now injured master, it was rather worrying. Leaving the man in his beautiful fiancé's capable (and soft) hands he hoped she would find a way to save him. Standing out in the open he wondered how things could've gone differently in that Einzbern Mansion.

Footsteps behind him told of Sola's approach. "Lancer?" Turning around he faked surprise.

"Oh you shocked me." He started. "I was just thinking about things." Walking up to him he could tell already that she was about to deliver bad news.

"Kayneth isn't doing very well." He had expected as much, the man wasn't in very good shape when he finally arrived at the hideout. "I've performed the routine treatments, but…" He should've been faster, he should've been more careful, maybe if he didn't screw around so much…

"This isn't your fault." That was the biggest lie he heard all day. "Kayneth brought it upon himself. It just means the Grail War was too much for him." He tried to refuse her words.

"No, but…" Despite the few short days of being with Kayneth and Sola he had developed a bond with them. It was a bond that resembled his improvised family to some degree.

"He isn't worthy of being your Master Lancer." She stared deeply into those large orange eyes and wondered what the man behind them looked like. "Kayneth has abandoned the war, entrusting me with his rights as your Master."

Jumping ship wasn't anything new to Lancer, it was how he met the boy who gave him his name after all. Kayneth would make a fine addition to the family as would Sola-Ui… the thought ran through his mind.

"I must thank you Sola." He said honestly. She seemed surprised by his confession. "I think I know what I'll wish for now."

"A wish? If you have a wish then I'd love to hear it." That sounded familiar…

"If I get the grail then I'll wish for you and Kayneth to be with me forever." What a lovely word, forever.

Sola was equal parts relieved and furious at that moment. She was glad that Lancer wanted to be with her forever but to include Kayneth?

She simply couldn't understand.


	6. Chapter 6

**Fate: All Riders.**

Chapter 6: Alive and Kicking.

Waver had never seen Rider so…. Driven before. Up until now everything seemed like a game to the Servant, a big old fight that he could have fun savouring. But now, something inside snapped, no that wasn't the right worded that implied he changed his behaviour to something unnatural. It was more accurate to say that something inside Rider clicked, this state of mind seemed so natural, it felt so right for the Heroic spirit.

Racing across the city on a bike Waver clung to the man who steered the vehicle. The lights flew past his vision, the sounds of the wind whistled through his ears, his blood pumped faster and faster!

"RIDER SLOW DOWN YOU'RE BREAKING THE SPEED LIMIT!" And several road rules, now that he thought about it he himself wasn't even wearing a helmet, this was crazy! Rider didn't reply, it seemed Waver's voice was drowned out by the roar of the engine.

"RIDER SLOW DOWN!" Waver tried again desperately clinging on for dear life.

"YOU SAY SOMETHING BACK THERE MASTER?" Rider replied.

"SLOW DOWN!" Waver yelled back.

Slowing his speech down Rider then replied.

"I SAAAAAAIID…YOOOOOUUUU SAAAAAAYY SOOOOOOMMMMETHIIIIING-"

"NO I MEANT STOP THE BIKE YOU IDIOT!" Skidding to a stop if it weren't for his fear placing an iron grip over Rider's waist Waver swore he would've been flung off into the distance.

"Why did you see something?" Despite the earlier misunderstanding about slowing down it was quickly forgotten, Rider was all business now. Ever since he met the Tosaka girl the Heroic spirit had become more serious, where was the boisterous Rider?

"No I didn't see anything!" He shouted back red faced, was his own Servant treating him like an idiot?

"Then why stop?" The innocent question implied that he didn't know he was doing anything wrong.

Taking a deep breath in Waver explained. "You're driving too fast, you're breaking the speed limits." Rider simply nodded as if in understanding. "The police would be attracted to us, it'll be a real hassle to hypnotise them to leave us alone.

"Ahhh I see your worry Master." Finally some sense from his block headed Servant. "Don't worry I can easily out race any policeman!" he boasted. "The cops will never catch us!... Wait that came out wrong." Waver could not help but apply the palm of his hands to his face.

"Rider I know you promised to stop Caster but driving around all crazy like that won't work."

"Yeah but you told me you couldn't track them since they don't seem to have a base of operations, if we're to find them then random searching will beat random evasion!" That made sense, why did his Servant make sense? Was he starting to go insane?

"Damn it Rider we need a plan! Besides we should go after Berserker first, you made a promise to he-" Rider had already walked away leaving his bike to fade into gold dust as something caught his attention.

"There's something over in the shopping district Master." So distracted with his servant Waver had missed the feeling of Prana in the air, something was nearby. Walking into the street filled with stores either side of the pair Waver could not help but feel that he was being watched.

Suddenly a flash of purple.

"Rider there's something inside that store!" Pointing at the window he swore he saw something pass through inside. Rider didn't say a word, he simply assumed a battle stance. Waver backed up, now that he thought about it he didn't really have any offensive spells to defend himself with. Oh sure he was quite decent at manipulating memories but against other Masters or Servants such skills were useless.

In short, his only chance of survival was the hero in front of him.

The area was surrounded by stores, boutiques for clothes mostly. Despite being night time the goods were on full display, the windows that revealed the contents littered the street as far as the eye could see. Looking around Waver wondered where the enemy was, he swore he saw one inside a small store to his left but that seemed to jump to the next store despite the fact that the two could not have been connected.

"Rider, do you see anything?" Once again he was answered by silence, his Servant stood at the ready. Suddenly a shout of battle!

"ELECTRO FIRE!" Raising his hand to the skies he then pushed his palm to the ground letting loose an eruption of lightning. Streaking across the street the pulse of energy collided against a window, behind it the shocked expression of a very large purple cobra. Blinding Waver he quickly rubbed his eyes and saw to his dismay that the corpse and body of the snake was nowhere to be seen.

The only thing in front of him was the ruined remains of the store and melted glass. Though he wasn't much of an optimist he hoped that his Heroic Spirit's attack had managed to completely obliterate the enemy. However there wasn't much chance of that.

"I see now." Announced Rider. "The beast does not live in the physical world, it hides in mirrors." Hearing a hissing sound behind him Waver froze. Why didn't he realize it sooner? The pink Manta Ray had been thrown into a mirror, he originally thought that it was some sort of teleportation spell. However it appeared that these monsters could travel from the real world to the ones within mirrors.

Waver had never heard of beasts such as these before.

"MASTER BEHIND YOU!" Still frozen in fear Waver couldn't move a muscle. With speeds that exceeded human limits Rider managed to summon his bike within a split second before grabbing his master and driving out of the way. The Cobra leaped out of the mirror with fangs bared only to find the ground before its face. Somewhat stunned by the ordeal the monster shook itself before finding its vision covered by a white boot.

Sent flying by the impact the beast sailed into the air and right into another glass window. However instead of shattering it simply was sucked through, this was a troublesome enemy indeed.

"Rider we have to get out of here, there's too many reflective surfaces!" It wasn't just streaks of purple anymore, there was pink and grey now. Swirling around the Master, Servant Duo the monsters watched for an opening.

Revving his bike Rider considered retreating, his master was in great peril. Then the temperature in the air dropped, Waver began to sweat more profusely then before. He was terrified, if he stayed here he would die, it was certain.

"Rider…" The air had become heavier, the presence of another Heroic Spirit was here. The sheer killing intent he exuded was felt before he was seen. So powerful was this aura that even Rider could tell that this Servant was a murderer.

"Oh? You're Rider? How Vexing." The voice came from all around. "I was hoping for a Rider that looked like a bull, a bat or even a dragon, I don't think I've ever seen a green eyed bug faced Rider before." Taking a step forwards the Servant finally revealed himself.

"I'm Servant Caster and you're outnumbered." The monsters in the mirrors surrounding them began to depart their respective glasses. Despite the dread he felt Waver's mind was still intact enough to wonder where Caster's master was. In a fight where your Servant was outmatched it was simply easier to take out the supporting Magus. However Knowing Rider even if said Master was out in the open he'd probably never resort to such methods.

Adjusting his gloves Rider chuckled at some private joke.

"Outnumbered huh? Well then." Standing straight he clenched his fist once more.

"I'm here to tell you that you're outmatched!" That was one way to say quality over quantity but that didn't put him at ease at all. The main fact was that he, Rider's Master was out in the open surrounded on all sides by monsters.

"What a Vexing idiot." That was one thing Waver could agree on, Rider was dumb at least in his opinion. "Leave the boy, I want the fight to last awhile." No wait, Caster was just as dumb.

Rider seemed to think fighting was fun because of the act itself. While Waver got the impression that Caster liked to fight just because he liked hurting people, either way it made himself slightly safer. Backing off the three monsters continued to surround them as Caster came forwards creating an improvised fighting ring of sorts.

Intimidated by the purple Servant Waver also took a step back.

"You better find some cover Master." Even Rider seemed to support the retreat. It was naïve but even Waver believed that Caster's familiars would leave him alone as long as he did nothing to provoke them. The whimsies of the purple servant hopefully would last long enough to keep him safe. However considering that he could've ended the fight by having his three monsters and himself dog pile the pair it was safe to assume that Waver really wasn't a target at all!

Thinking about such things hurt his already terrified brain so all Waver did was dash for the nearest cover. Running around and jumping into the smashed remains of a store Waver peeked over the edge to witness his Servant battle.

This was going to be the first time he would see Rider fight. The earlier scuffle with the pink manta ray hardly counted since it only lasted for one attack. Here he expected things to drag on for slightly longer.

* * *

Now that his Master was safe Rider felt that he could go all out. As Caster took a step forwards he himself jumped away to a nearby roof top. Thinking that his opponent was trying to gain the high ground for an assault Caster braced himself. However instead of anything physical he was instead battered with Rider's words.

"The heavens cry out!" Raising his finger he pointed to the sky.

"The earth cries out!" The glint from his helmet could be seen from the ground.

"The people cry out!" Waver was nowhere in sight.

"They cry out for me to destroy evil!" The three monsters growled in response.

"Listen up, evildoers...I am the warrior of justice, Kamen Rider Stronger!" A wind passes by flicking the white scarf he wore behind him in a dramatic fashion.

Scoffing at the performance Caster rolled his neck again.

"Wow you're a loud mouth, why don't I shut you up hey?" Grabbing a card from his belt buckle he then inserted it into a staff that he materialized from the air.

'Sword Vent' A disembodied voice announced.

From behind him a flash of light revealed a blur that travelled quickly into his hand showing a spiral sword.

Shaking his head in disbelief Rider spoke up once more.

"Is it me or does every Hero in this war have a talking belt or something?"

"SHUT UP AND FIGHT!" Leaping from the ground Rider quickly found himself avoiging sword strikes from every angle. Backing up and dodging he grabbed Caster's sword hand before punching the man with his free hand.

Staggering away Caster cursed before lunging back with renewed vigor, his attacks faster and stronger than before. Dodging and parrying the blade with his hand Rider studied his opponent, waiting for an opening. He then grabbed the weapon with his two hands.

A foot came up to meet his stomach as Caster tried to kick him away. Grunting in pain Rider kept holding on before his body began to cackle with energy. Sparks began to fly from Caster's armour as the voltage began to rise. His hands spasmed around the handle leaving him unarmed as he dropped his sword.

It was an involuntary action that Rider soon took advantage of. Kicking the discarded weapon at Caster who was already off balance from the earlier attack Rider quickly leapt forwards to deliver a punch sending his foe into the ground. Following up with a flurry of strikes the battle was obviously in Stronger's favour however the victory was postponed as something struck his back sending him backwards.

Leaping to his feet Rider took a defensive pose, in front of Caster was his three monsters. Which one had attacked him was unimportant; all that he knew was that the fight was now much more even. Summoning his cobra staff once more Caster used it to steady himself as he stood back up.

"You're pretty fun to fight." He said in a low his almost affectionately. "Looks like I'll have to get serious." Pulling another card from his belt he quickly inserted it into his staff once more.

'Unite Vent' The disembodied voice announced once more.

The three monsters were pulled together until they were merged into something that resembled all three. Something with the cobra taking up the neck, head and tail, rhino parts took up the majority of the body with its horn on the snake's head while the Manta Ray appeared mostly on the back imitating wings.

Rolling his neck once more he gave the command. "Get him." Running forwards Caster and Monster met Rider head on. Dodging the initial strike, a tail swipe from the large beast Rider jumped before kicking away the fist of an angry Caster. Landing back down he quickly rolled backwards out of the way of snake's horn. Or was it a rhino? It didn't matter.

"So this is your trump card huh?" Though it was hard to tell Caster got the impression that Rider was smirking. "Not bad but I'm better." Lunging forwards he threw a punch at Caster who side stepped to avoid the attack. A large shadow was casted over Rider and before he could avoid it he was thrown to the side by a massive claw.

However it seemed that the attack did little damage as seconds later he twisted in mid-air before landing, palm on the ground. "Electro FIRE!" An arc of lightning burst out from the ground blasting the area away.

As the smoke began to clear the creature's tail flicked to the side revealing that it had not been harmed. Caster was nowhere to be seen.

'Final Vent' the voice announced once more.

A black hole appeared inside the monster's belly. Turning behind him Rider had enough warning time to duck avoiding the kick altogether. Rolling to a stop Caster watched his enemy.

Rider raised both hands to the sky in annoyance. "No really, why does everyone have talking belts?" He asked. "Is everyone too lazy to call their own attacks these days or something?" It seemed that he completely missed the point. The topic seemed to have concerned Rider more than it should have.

Caster rolled his head once more, this was fun and all but it was taking too long for his liking. His three contract monsters split back into their original forms, it seemed that the purple Servant decided that perhaps quantity would beat quality this time around.

"Hey Ryuunosuke!" He called out. "Help me out would you?" Asking for help from a master? Stronger tensed. He expected that the enemy Master was a Magus, someone who could enhance his servant with prana to enforce their powers perhaps. Maybe he was just going to get healed by the Magus or perhaps he wanted his Master to use a command seal to empower his next attack.

What came next was unexpected, a gnawing feeling at the back of his head electrified him.

"My Master is in Danger!" The realization hit him hard, the link between him and Waver was strong but as soon as Caster asked for help something had gone wrong.

"Oi Caster, I got him!" Appearing from the rubble of one of the stores the orange haired kidnapper from earlier appeared. Stronger berated himself mentally, he almost forgot that the guy wasn't even capable of using magic.

In his arms was Waver, with a knife to his neck.

* * *

Waver was terrified at this point. Being captured by a master was bad enough but being captured by one without magic? This had to be the lowest point in his life. The murderer had come up behind him, years of practise made his approach unnoticeable. The battle between servants simply distracted Waver and before he could do anything a knife was at his throat.

"If only I could face him." Waver thought. If he could just look him in the eye he could hypnotise the man but the weapon pressing against his neck made him too afraid to try anything.

"Me and you are going to make a great portrait together!" The mad man announced. Despite the seemingly innocent statement it had made Waver even more uncomfortable.

"Rider help!" His Servant didn't move and instead of helping his let his arms fall to his sides.

Caster laughed. "Giving up already? Good, now that I've got your master you're going to do everything I want you to do!" Nodding Rider gave no signs that he would retaliate.

To everyone else Rider had given up already, but the subservient act was just that, an act. Waver could feel his prana draining away faster than normal; he knew that Rider was planning to do something and if the drain in Prana was anything to go by then he was about to see his Servant's Noble Phantasm.

Silently he cheered even with a knife to his throat.

* * *

Everything was going better than planned. Originally Caster had his Master hide out in the buildings to catch the other Master off guard in case things had gone south so that he could finish off Rider. However since then the plan had changed, instead of holding the man hostage to kill his opponent he would now use the kid as blackmail.

The idea of having Rider fighting other heroes was an appetising one. The nostalgia made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside, it took him back to the days when the battles were endless.

"Best day ever." He murmured before turning his attention back on Rider.

"First things first, I'm gonna have you fight Saber." Caster had never seen Saber but assumed that the Servant would be his biggest threat. Having a magic resistance meant that he would be resistant if not completely immune to some of his abilities. Though Caster had little in the way of magic attacks he had enough to make it noticeable.

"Then I'm gonna have you go after Assassin." The only person who was allowed to be sneaky was him damn it!

"Then you'll fight Archer!" This left him with Berserker and Lancer, the fun up close classes to fight.

Rider however did not once reply. Caster began to tap his foot in impatience.

"So you should probably get on that before your Master gets cut.

Suddenly the world exploded, the white light blinded everyone in a large radius around Rider. The explosion was so loud that Caster thought he imagined the words that his foe had shouted.

"THE LEGENDARY SEVEN RIDERS!"

As his vision cleared Caster found himself in an open field of gravel, the horizon was littered with hills and mountains of the stuff.

Looking around in confusion he pointed at Rider. "GET HIM!" His three contract monsters however were interrupted.

"RIDER KICK!" The Cobra found itself sailing through the air sent tumbling to the ground.

"RIDER PUNCH!" The Rhino had its spine punched leaving its face in the dust.

"ROPE ARM!" The pink manta ray was tangled with rope flailing around before it was sent crashing into the dirt.

The three new additions retreated next to Rider. Two of them were identical both sporting black jumpsuits with a green chest, bug like helmets with red eyes and a red scarf around their necks. Subtle differences however separated the two, the most obvious being the colour of their gloves, one of which was red and the other white.

The third newcomer had a blue helmet that showed the wearers mouth and nose, his right arm was a large peanut shaped device with a hook attached.

"Damnit Ryuunosuke just kill his Master!" Caster intended to cut off Rider's source of prana ending whatever he was doing to summon all these other Servants.

"Don't worry Caster I'm on it!" The orange haired serial killer announced. Wait a second. Why was the black haired master in that grey bug mans arms?

The man with a stylized 'X' on his head then lowered Waver behind Stronger.

If the black haired master was over there then who was he holding? Looking down instead of seeing a terrified black haired boy he was faced with a red and white helmet with green eyes.

"V THREE!" It yelled before grabbing him and throwing him to the ground. Doing a flip he joined the rest of his companions.

"DAMN YOU ALL!" Caster yelled. Taking a card he inserted it.

'Strike Vent' the voice announced once more.

However as the weapon descended from above another green blur intercepted it battering the blade away before it could reach its master. Landing on the ground with his friends the new arrival brandished its claws.

"AMAZON!" It announced yelling its name.

It seemed that Caster was now outnumbered.

* * *

Waver was shocked, a reality marble of all things? This was nuts! If his Servant was capable of pulling something like this then perhaps his wish would come true as well? The surprises didn't end there either, his Servant had summoned six other Heroic Spirits! SIX! The Grail could only manage seven but Rider could summon SIX! That was insane! The only thing more ridiculous was if he could summon an army of them! The thought was sobering.

Taking a step forwards the electric hero shouted.

"After I'm done destroying you I'm going after Berserker! I'm going to make you both wish that you were never summoned!" Caster simply laughed, the sound seemed to make Rider hesitate.

"This is great, I get to fight something like this, to die doing what I love doing best! It's the greatest!" He knew he was going to lose but he didn't care.

Taking one last card from his belt everyone tensed.

'Final Vent'

Jumping high in the sky he flipped backwards, his cobra reared its head to deliver the attack.

Engulfed in acid Caster came raining down on his foe.

Scattering the heroes all jumped aside to avoid the strike, every hero except one.

"MASTER!" That's right, he was in the path of the attack. Taking the full force of Caster's kick who leapt away Rider then fell to the ground as the acid began to eat away at his body.

"IDIOT!" Waver began to cry over his Servant's fallen form. "YOU COULD'VE GRABBED ME THEN DODGED!" Why couldn't his servant understand common sense, were all heroes this self-sacrificing? Fading away into golden dust Rider's helmet dissolved to reveal a smile.

However it wasn't a normal smile at all.

It was the kind of smile one would have when they were about to pull off the biggest prank in history.

As he completely faded away Waver stared dumbfounded at the ground. Maybe this was his way of coping with lose, perhaps he just imagined the way Rider was smiling. Maybe he misinterpreted the smile, whatever the case Rider was clearly dead.

Yet the reality marble remained and so did the other six heroes.

"The heavens cry out!" A voice thundered from everywhere.

"The earth cries out!" The person who announced this was directly in front of the sun.

"The people cry out!" Waver raised his head in shock unsure what to believe.

"They cry out for me to destroy evil!" Caster growled.

"Listen up, evildoers...I am the warrior of justice, Kamen Rider Stronger!" A wind passes by flicking the white scarf he wore behind him in a dramatic fashion.

Caster had enough surprises for one day.

"Didn't I just kill you!?" He cried as if this was against the rules. Though considering it was a reality marble the whole situation was against the rules of Gaia anyways.

"People who are killed should be dead!" He complained.

"As long as Riders are needed, we will never die!" It wasn't just his Servant that yelled that, every other Heroic spirit besides Caster had shouted the phrase.

It wasn't a boast, it was a statement!

"STRONGER LIGHTNING KICK!" Glowing he leapt towards Caster. The light was blinding. Staggering backwards the purple Servant tried to shield his eyes from the light before finding himself in the most pain he had ever felt. With electricity flowing through his body concentrated at the foot Rider delivered his attack before leaping away.

Caster was still standing but was obviously in bad shape.

"How vexing." He muttered before falling to his knees and exploding.

Fading away the world around Waver quickly disappeared.

"Rider! You're alive!" Receiving a flick to his face his Servant looked as if he was in a better mood.

"Of course I am, you still need me idiot." Rubbing his nose Waver wasn't sure whether he should be relieved or insulted. "All we have to do now is find Berserker and beat him! With Caster out of the way the murders should stop!"

Looking around at the ruined shopping district Waver rubbed the back of his neck.

"Hey Rider does it feel like we've forgotten about something?"

* * *

Running away Uryuu Ryuunosuke sighed. The loss of a friend was depressing, sure the whole fight was exciting and fun but in the end Caster had lost.

"Man I'm sure going to miss having a demon around." He murmured slowing down. Coming across a house an old habit compelled him to look inside for a victim to cheer himself up. However it seemed that this family had pulled the curtains closed. All he could see was his own reflection.

Looking at his down trodden face he paused. "Wow I look pathetic." Laughing he cheered himself up. "Nothing lasts forever." He said remembering all the pictures he and Caster had made within all those mirrors. "You just have to appreciate the image while it lasts." All traces of depression soon faded away.

Now that his mind was off such matters he began thinking about other things.

Remembering the fight Caster had he recalled an interesting piece of information that green eyed bug hero had revealed.

_"After I'm done destroying you I'm going after Berserker! I'm going to make you both wish that you were never summoned!"_

That was what the bug man had said if Ryuunosuke remembered correctly. It sounded like Caster wasn't the only demon around, this Berserker judging by those words was also summoned.

"I'm going to make a new friend!" He decided. Maybe he'd meet the guy who summoned that Berserker demon as well and maybe they could be friends together! Walking off into the night an Orange haired man smiled.


	7. Chapter 7

**Fate: All Riders.**

Chapter 7: It's everyone else's fault.

The pain was unbearable and his right arm itched. Kariya simply gritted his teeth, despite the agony that he felt throughout his body he couldn't help but scratch at the Command Spells that littered his arm. He thought that by now he would be used to foreign things being jammed into his body yet the red markings itched like hell. Perhaps his father had implanted them this way on purpose for his own sick amusement.

The itching would sometimes come and go, at other times it felt like his arm was on fire. Compared to the pain he felt in his organs it was simply annoying. But it was the kind of annoyance that you simply couldn't ignore.

As of that moment his spleen seemed to just decide to metaphorically implode on itself leaving the pain more noticeable then the itch. Keeling over Kariya clutched his stomach as the bugs within him ate at his body.

"Damnit!" he swore clenching his jaw. "I wish it would stop hurting!" The willpower and the frustrations behind his words were powerful enough to activate one of the many Command Spells he had in his possession and for the first time in ages Kariya did not feel pain.

Standing up in wonderment he looked around in confusion before the itch in his right arm forced him to scratch it again. Looking down to get a better view of the annoying Command Spells he could see that one of them was beginning to fade. His eyes widened at the implications.

The amount of Prana he was sending to his Servant was reduced to nothing yet the Heroic Spirit didn't waver from existence, it was as if something else was powering the Servant now. It was as if the Holy Grail system had heard his wish and found that the easiest way to complete it was by sending Prana.

He was still in pain of course, something foreign that didn't belong in his body crawled inside his guts and skin. Luckily the pain of having his 'Circuits' being used to their limits no longer applied to his current state. For the time being the bugs inside of him were content to more or less lie around.

If that was the case then this was just a temporary solution. However it was one he'd continue to use.

Now that his mind was freed from the fog of overwhelming agony he found himself more alert to his surroundings. No longer distracted with pain Kariya believed that he was more prepared for the upcoming battles. Now that he was more determined than ever he confirmed his silent promise.

"Don't worry Sakura, I'm going to save you real soon." He would not put this power to waste.

* * *

Kotomine frowned, the war was a mess. His father and his teacher both laid dead and a man not fit to be called a Magus never mind Master could debatably be considered the biggest threat due to the sheer amount of Command Spells he possessed.

Before the war started in earnest he was informed of the excess seals that previous masters had left behind. Despite this knowledge Kotomine dismissed it when he was told that it was Kariya who had slain his father. He simply assumed that the man didn't have the expertise needed to transfer the seals.

However according to one of the Assassins he had sent to spy on the man he now had a multitude of Command Spells covering his right arm. The Master could have hidden this fact but apparently he constantly rolled up his sleeve to scratch them. Another piece of Intel to note was that the Matou appeared to be in less pain than usual.

There was one conclusion to all this. The man had gone to his father for help and was now using the Seals to power his Servant. To use such an important resource for prana felt so mundane and wasteful. However considering how much of this resource he had in stock it wasn't exactly a bad idea and in hindsight it wasn't a bad strategy either.

If Kariya continued to use such methods to alleviate his pain then eventually the Command Spells would be reduced or completely used up leaving the last standing Master with nothing to pillage. This obviously wasn't the man's intent but regardless it was something to keep in mind.

The longer he let the Matou wander around the less Command Spells he would have by the end of the conflict.

Berserker was another issue, in spirit form the thing was impossible to track. From all reports it was most likely a passive ability that the Servant used subconsciously. Without its mind it was impossible that the thing was doing it on purpose.

The other fact was that despite all of the reconnaissance he had performed Kotomine was still ignorant to what Berserker's appearance was. The Servant was always in spirit form or simply in a place that his own Servant was absent from.

All that he knew was that this Servant was a stealthy Berserker that could infiltrate his mentor's defences well enough to surprise the man that had laid them down. However the lack of information could easily be fixed.

"Archer." He called as the blue faker appeared behind him.

"Yeah boss? You needed something?" The blue hero was casual and though he didn't seem to like the idea of people ordering him around Kotomine found it was easier to do so if you worded it as a favour or question.

"We don't have anything on Berserker except reports of the aftermaths of his appearances; if possible I'd like it if you could send one of your summons to attack the Matou to force it into existence."

The point of the attack wasn't to kill Kariya obviously, all Kotomine wanted was the capabilities of the Servant. Having a Hero that could create expendable (If Prana expensive) Servants was a blessing in that regard.

Leaning against the wall Archer let out a sigh. Looking to the side he shrugged.

"Sure why not, if I'm gonna get the Grail I'll have to fight him eventually." Fading away he left.

Moments passed when one of the Assassins appeared. Though Kirei couldn't tell the individuals apart just by appearance alone he made an effort to learn their names regardless so he could delegate tasks to the most fitting individual. Judging by the way this one stood and walked the Servant before him was Otoya Kurenai.

"Yo Master, you think it's such a good idea sending that guy off by himself? You should send one of us to keep an eye on him or something." Kotomine didn't like the man honestly, he was always so bright and happy, his very existence seemed wicked.

"No Assassin, I don't have to take such measures, you must remember that as his Master I am able to track his location regardless of position as long as we are linked."

Scratching the back of his head the white armoured soldier spoke.

"I know but what if he somehow tries to pull something on you, none of us would be there to stop him." It should have been nice to have someone worry about your well-being and Kotomine knew that. Yet despite this he still felt nothing and it plagued his mind to no end.

"It's fine Assassin, I am perfectly willing to use my Command Spells to have him commit suicide if it comes to that, besides I have a job for you and your associates." Turning aside the priest grabbed a folder.

"I need you all to accompany me on a mission, Emiya Kiritsugu is a dangerous man, if I know him then he's probably going to take advantage of my situation with the Matou and kill me when I'm distracted." Shaking his head Otoya denied it.

"Pfft, the world doesn't resolve around you ya know?" He joked. "I doubt the guy is obsessed with you as much as you are with him, I mean if you swing that way it's okay but try and keep it professional at least." Kotomine frowned again, he didn't like where this conversation was going.

The priest simply could not find the words to retaliate. It was said that without a catalyst to summon a specific hero you would simply summon one that would match your personality the best.

If he managed to summon multiple Servants would that make him a complicated man with many layers? Did some small part of his mind reflect this Otoya fellow?

It was doubtful, to have pleasure after all was sinful and Kotomine liked to believe that he was a man of god, free of sin.

"If we are not too busy with Emiya then we shall rendezvous with Archer after he has finished his recognisance, by then I assume we'll have enough information to approach and combat Berserker effectively." It confused Kotomine to no end. Assassin was a Servant, a tool to be used in this war. Why was he explaining things to him? Was it because it was more convenient than having the Heroic Spirit question him constantly?

Assassin simply shrugged and dutifully followed his Master.

"Well why don't we go for his hideout then? That forest place?" Kotomine shook his head.

His Servant either had a short attention span or he was just trying to annoy the priest on purpose now.

They said patience was a virtue.

It was a virtue that Kotomine practiced often around his Servant.

"You were there when the Archibald had entered the forest and you yourself said that Lancer had left with his injured Master after thirty minutes or so." He began. "The best time to attack was at that moment, however as you know I was busy with preserving Tokiomi's corpse, after the assault by Lancer it's most likely that Emiya has either relocated or strengthened his defences, either way we don't have the resources to attack him directly yet, which is why we'll have to bring him to us."

* * *

Powering Berserker with a single Command Spell seemed to work wonders. However Kariya knew that once that power ran out he'd either have to use another Command Spell or just tough it out. Considering the fact that his Servant was in spirit form this wouldn't be a concern until later on. Sending his bugs out Kariya needed to find the other Masters, the quicker he found them the quicker Sakura would be out of his father's sick hands.

However it seemed using his insects still required a measure of prana, the power from the Command Spell only seemed to feed his Heroic Spirit. Thus the pain returned though he had to admit the strain on his body was much less debilitating then powering a Servant. To be honest he was used to the discomfort by now, the very fact disturbed him greatly. It wasn't too long before his bugs managed to find someone of note, it wasn't a Master though.

Instead he had found a Servant, the concentration of power was unmistakable. Tensing up he quickly called out Berserker, without his Heroic Spirit he would be a sitting duck. No matter how long he had been Master of his Berserker Kariya still could never get used to the things presence.

Instead of the gold dust that accompanied all of the other Heroic spirits when they faded in or out of existence Berserker simply stepped through the same greyish, white miasma that covered his form. Now that the Matou thought about it he wasn't even sure what gender his Servant was.

Suppressing the reflex to throw up he clenched his jaw. Focusing on something other than the abomination next to him Kariya distracted himself by trying to find the other Servant.

However it seemed his search was not only short lived but somewhat unneeded.

Coming around the corner a white figure appeared. Judging by its appearance Kariya assumed that this was Assassin, his bug familiars had managed to spy the Heroic Spirit fighting Archer earlier in the war. However something about this Assassin was slightly different, for one it had red eyes and a sword.

"Please return that life to god!" Assassin announced. Roaring in retaliation Berserker's eyes burned with unnatural green. The ground shuddered in response and for a moment he could swear that Assassin was afraid.

Lunging forwards towards the stunned hero Berserker's hand glowed with an awesome power. Reality rippled for a moment as his arm began to burn bright with pink ethereal energy. Taking a swing the attack created a sonic boom as Berserker's fist quickly passed the sound barrier.

Desperately dodging to the side Assassin managed to mitigate some of the damage which only destroyed his left pauldron. Leaping backwards the sword became a gun, it appeared that he believed his chances would be improved at long range. However the white hero was sadly mistaken.

Increasing the distance between the two heroes Assassin pelted Berserker with bullets to no effect. The sparks that flew from his opponent's body might as well have been special effects for all the good they did. Berserker continued to mindlessly charge at Assassin.

It wasn't that Assassin was faster than Berserker, it was that he was just smarter. Jumping to the side the white hero continued to put obstacles between the two, lamp posts, traffic signs, car's whatever was convenient. Where a sane man would simply go around and take the faster path Berserker took the slower if more direct route.

It was a stalemate of sorts. Berserker could not catch Assassin and Assassin could not hurt Berserker or so it would seem. Roaring in frustration and anger Berserker stopped moving to vent his rage.

Reality seemed to warp around the crazed hero for a moment. Swinging his fist towards the ground the area seemed to glow pink for a moment. The following shockwave smashed the road launching Assassin into the air. Leaping to follow his prey Berserker roared in triumph. Surprised at the sudden change the white hero could do nothing as Berserker's glowing pink fist flew up to meet him.

Taking the brunt of the force on the chin Assassin quickly crumbled into golden dust as the unnatural energy was dispersed into his body. This was the first time Kariya had seen Berserker fight against another Servant, it was a rather terrifying. Somewhere in the distance several car alarms were set off.

Landing back onto the ground Berserker then patted his hands down brushing them side to side. The motion was so well practiced that it looked like a habit, even without their minds people still stuck to routine it seemed. Perhaps it was a trick of the eye, the Grey fog that surrounded his Servant did make it hard to see such things.

After a few seconds of studying his Servant Kariya then realized that he could still detect another Heroic Spirit nearby.

Narrowing his eyes he tried to broaden his senses, perhaps it was Saber, Rider, Lancer or Caster. After killing Assassin those were the only options left. Using his bug familiars he had already been alerted to Archer's demise, he had very early in the war kept surveillance on the Tosaka house hold. To tell the truth he was still ignorant of Caster's death, Kariya had neglected to have his bugs follow anyone else and even when his mind had cleared up from the lack of pain the idea couldn't be used as their locations were now unknown to him.

However despite his paranoia of an imminent attack the Servant quickly left. Sensing no huge presence of Prana nearby Kariya finally allowed himself to relax leaving his own Servant to fade back into spirit form.

With his mind relatively free from agony he began to think. It was possible another Master had teamed up with the Master of Assassin but considering the lack of attacks it was probably more logical to assume that the other Servant was simply observing the battle, waiting to ambush the weakened victor.

However since Berserker had destroyed his opponent without taking any injury to himself perhaps the third party didn't like their chances.  
Whatever the case it meant that another Master knew what Berserker looked like. Kariya was using the phrase 'looked like' very loosely here.

Looking down at his Command Spell covered arm he wondered if he could order his Servant to become sane and reveal himself.

Before he could weigh the pros and cons of such an act he began to feel a familiar pain as the bugs inside him began eating away at his body and mind once again.

The draw of Prana had returned and was now powering Berserker. It was lucky that his Servant was in spirit form, he didn't know if he could've taken the sudden shock of powering a physical Heroic Spirit with that much Prana. It seemed that the juice from the Command Spells were drained faster during battle, he would have to ration them carefully.

With the idea of removing the grey fog and his Servant's insanity firmly gone from his mind Kariya limped away for a place to rest.

* * *

The Assassins had been gathered, it had only taken a few minutes. Despite having below average parameters they were still Heroic Spirits, entities that far surpassed the average human. Hidden around the immediate area only one of them was visible and standing next to Kotomine, hopefully the plan would go off without a hitch.

Looking around Kirei noted his surroundings once more. Situated in the first real battle of the Grail war the docks were cornered off by construction equipment. It seemed that he would have to bother those very same workers once more. In the absence of his father and any solid news from the association Kotomine had taken it upon himself to become a pseudo overseer for the war. The job however was closer to that of a janitor. A battle would be fought and he would fix the collateral damage, if the damage was too extensive he would hire others to fix it and hypnotise them all to do it and forget about it later.

So here he was waiting for Kiritsugu to appear, hopefully his own presence here would hide Archer's movements. Knowing Emiya this place was probably under surveillance, possibly with the Magus Killer lining up a shot with his sniper rifle, worst case scenario was if Emiya had found a way to plant explosives all around the area. The priest knew he was a good fighter but the ensuing confusion of an explosion wasn't something he would look forwards to.

With his link to Archer he could feel that the Servant had just used a large portion of Prana, probably to summon a Servant. How the mechanics of his ability worked was beyond Kotomine though he swore that he would study it at a later date if time permitted it.

It had been almost half an hour now and yet not a single sign of Emiya had appeared. Then suddenly a large concentration of Prana could be felt, it was another Servant.

This one wasn't even trying to hide itself, did Kiritsugu plan on distracting him with the Heroic Spirit?

"I can't believe someone else is using my trick." A casual voice called out. "You could be original or at least pretend to come up with the idea yourself but using the exact same place?" Walking around the corner Lancer revealed himself.

"Are you even trying?" This was not part of the plan but he had none the less predicted it.

Frowning Kotomine sent a mental note to his hidden Servants.

"Find Lancer's Master and end him." Hopefully it wouldn't take too long, Kotomine couldn't afford this delay.

A few tense moments passed as Lancer sized up Assassin. The former stood leaning on his weapon casually while the later clenched his fist studying his opponent's every move.

Deciding to break the silence the blue hero finally spoke up.

"Mind if I reel you in?" Launching himself forwards Lancer soon found his weapon batted to the side as the Assassin that was standing right next to the priest leapt into action.

Lancer was surprisingly slow for someone of his class despite being leagues above any human in the modern age. At the same time this applied to Assassin as well. The supposedly two more agile Servants in the war were only considered normal compared to other Heroic Spirits when it came to speed. However despite this they easily compensated with other strengths.

Both of them appeared to be well experienced in battle, able to read each other's movements and strikes. Though Assassin was obviously losing he still held his own even as Lancer scored another strike against his chest. It was strange however, it seemed that the blue Servant was holding back, the prior reports on Lancer painted him as a much faster fighter.

Kotomine estimated that if Lancer was fighting at full strength then the only way Assassin would survive would be by fighting defensively. As it stood the Assassin in front of him was 'Jiro'. Though he seemed to be quite the level headed individual in his civilian form, in battle he was much more ferocious. Foregoing any defence for any strike he could launch.

Stumbling back from the latest attack the Servant growled in frustration, he couldn't seem to get a solid hit on his foe.

Lancer laughed. "To see an Assassin fight like this is quite fun." He teased. "Perhaps you should slither away and hide like an eel?" Letting lose a more bestial growl the white hero ran back into the fray, his pride as a Heroic Spirit would not allow him to retreat.

Continuing to frown Kotomine continued to request updates on the Master of Lancer.

"Where is he?" He asked. "As far as I can tell this Servant does not possess the independent class feature, his Master must be nearby even if his Servant isn't fighting at his full potential." A slight pause answered him before the reply came back.

"Lancer appears to have come by himself, we cannot find any physical evidence of any Master nearby." Something was wrong.

Kirei was still a safe distance from the fight (safe being a relative term when it comes to a fight between Servants) but even so his danger senses began to scream at him.

At that moment Lancer had ducked under one of Assassin's kicks only to grab the Servant's leg and fling him across the battlefield and into an orange road cone.

Bringing his spear up into a throwing position the weapon flew towards the priest. It was too fast and Kotomine didn't look like he was going to dodge it in time.

Still dazed by the earlier attack the Assassin that was fighting could do nothing but yell a warning. The other Assassins were too far away to do anything.

One of them wasn't even wearing his belt.

A loud clang and Kirei was flung against a container, the force however was low enough that no dent was made, it did however hurt a lot. The spear had been hurled into another direction as well, something that Lancer quickly fixed by jumping to the side and grabbing.

A shining object was smoking in Kotomine's hand; it was a golden knuckle duster.

To combat a noble phantasm you had to use a noble phantasm yourself. He was only human however and thus in a straight fight he would certainly lose against Lancer, luckily he was still able to deflect an attack and stay on his feet.

If he had used one of his black keys Kotomine had no doubt that he would certainly have died as his weapon would have surely shattered against the spear.

The Ixa Knuckle as his Servant's had called it was to be his trump card. Studying his Assassins Kotomine had eventually come to the conclusion that this noble phantasm was one of the few of its kind that could be wielded by non-servant individuals. It kind of reminded him of a certain Irish girl he knew.

If what his Servants had said was true then using this device to its full potential was both dangerous and ill advised. Apparently the thing had a time limit of sorts that for some reason didn't apply to Heroic Spirits. Frowning he realized that the trap was ruined already, mentally calling Otoya he handed the device back to the Servant, Emiya would not be caught by surprise now.

Transforming another Assassin was added to the fray. Where was Emiya?

Speaking of Masters that had yet to appear…

* * *

Sola was ecstatic, to think Lancer had the ability to possess his Master! It removed the most vulnerable part of a Master, Servant team and made the two that much closer. If Lancer were to die then she herself would of course be killed but that was pretty much true regardless of whether she was being possessed by her love or not.

However it wasn't all sunshine and lollipops, it was also rather embarrassing. To have Lancer quite literally in her body was something that quickly overloaded her imagination reducing her to a metaphorical state of liquid arousal. It did make her wonder what her Servant looked like, a question that she had asked earlier before the battle had started.

Lowering his gaze he started. "Oh I look like an ugly monster, a red ugly peach looking monster." He replied with a soft voice. "Such a burden it is to possess such an unsightly face, if only I looked more handsome like a turtle." He was such a sensitive kind soul. It made her love him that much more. With her love she promised to heal his wounds.

* * *

"Lancer! Watch out more Servants!" Sola mentally yelled. Lancer didn't need any warnings but he did appreciate his Master's worry, soon he was swarmed with identical looking Heroic Spirits.

Taking up his weapon he quickly made a broad sweep keeping them at bay. Up until now Lancer had been holding himself back, he simply didn't want to strain his Master's body more than he had to.

Prior experience had told him that it wouldn't kill the person he possessed but regardless it would certainly make them somewhat sore the next day. The main reason Lancer had held back was because he truly did not want to treat a female body so roughly.

But if he didn't she would probably be destroyed by the oncoming fists.

Kicking the nearest Assassin away he smirked. Lancer had expected something like this from the beginning. What kind of Assassin would fight head on? Surely a hero of deception and stealth would have a trick up their sleeves.

Despite the increased numbers the fight was still stacked in Lancer's favour. For all of their coordination and team work Lancer was used to fighting against such odds. Conversely despite losing the Assassins were still managing to hold their ground, it seemed that they were used to fighting stronger individual enemies.

It would take a long while and the battle would be arduous but without a doubt Lancer believed he would win.

Then a voice interrupted the battle.

'Final Form Ride.'

The artificial voice announced.

'I-I-I-IXAS'

Multiple blue Servants revealed themselves as their invisibilities had worn off. Was this another trick of Assassin?

"The pain will only last a moment." The blue heroes all echoed.

Plunging their hands into each of the white servants the seven white heroes began to convulse and change soon coming together to form some sort of huge mechanical beast.

The multiple blue heroes then faded away, the real one appearing next to the priest.

"Hey Master, I hope you don't mind me helping." Who was this blue Servant?

* * *

**Omake A what if story?**

Kotomine was smiling. In front of him laid the prone form of a red haired boy. Behind him the grail.

He was going to have fun killing the son of Kiritsugu Emiya.

But before he could finish the job laughter interrupted his blissful thoughts.

"Who's that? Where are you?" he shouted to the unseen intruder.

"RIGHT HERE!" Leaping from the Grail the green eyed, red masked Rider appeared.

How was the servant not corrupted? How did he even get inside the grail? How long did he wait there?

"DAMN YOU V3!" was the only phrase that came to mind.


	8. Chapter 8

**Fate: All Riders.**

Chapter 8: This is an understatement.

Backing away from the large, white mechanical monster Lancer wasn't exactly sure how to react. However his following comment illustrated the feelings of everyone there quite accurately.

"Well this escalated rather quickly." It was somewhat of an understatement but it worked well enough for now.

The blue gunner that was called Archer was apparently still alive and judging how he interacted with Assassin it wasn't too far of a stretch to assume that the two heroes knew each other before they had died.

It was likely that they were both Assassins in life owing to the fact that one was literally called that and the other could turn invisible.

Such theories could wait, for now Lancer was running for his (and his Master's) life.

One Assassin in a straight fight was rather easy, casual even.

A group of seven was challenging but manageable.

Seven Assassins with an Archer who had just recently activated what looked like a combined Noble Phantasm?

That was less manageable.

Leaping to the top of a large steel storage container Lancer believed himself to be somewhat safe. He was of course wrong. In the brief time that he let his guard down an explosion had thrown him off his feet sending him right into another steel container.

With a resounding *CLANG* he soon removed himself from the metal noticing that there were two dents in the side of the container. It appeared that this was the same box that he was thrown against when the dragon fly hero had shot him.

"To be caught twice by the same net, things aren't going very swimmingly." Rolling to the side on instinct another explosion had blown a hole in the concrete which he was just standing by.

The large white dragon machine was throwing explosive capsules, it kind of reminded him of a certain train that he used to ride on.

If he used his Noble Phantasm now there was a very good chance he could take Assassin down right now. However Archer was still an enigma, using his trump card now would most likely leave him open.

He had to escape, there was not much chance of anything else, he had to create an opening.

Until he could figure out how Archer worked, it was pointless to fight him.

Speaking of Archer where was he?

Ducking Lancer rolled to the side into cover fully expecting to be shot from behind. It seemed that his precaution was unneeded as nothing had come of it. Still the thought did put him on edge.

If Archer had indeed gone invisible again then it was possible that he could launch a sneak attack at any moment.

Another explosion rocked his vision, the steel container he hid behind was now replaced with a smoking crater. Assassin's noble phantasm was interesting and it was powerful but it didn't seem like a weapon an Assassin would really use honestly.

It was simply too flashy and loud.

Perhaps this wasn't Assassin's ultimate weapon, perhaps it was Archer's, perhaps his power involved subverting others? Another explosion pulled the blue hero from his thoughts, he was starting to run out of useable cover.

If this kept up it was possible that civilians would start to notice. You can't exactly start throwing around dozens of exploding barrels and be subtle about it.

"Master, I'm going to try and use one my ultimate attacks, it's not my noble phantasm but it'll reel in quite a bit of Prana so be ready for it." He warned.

* * *

Kotomine had thought of just about everything. The area was within a bounded field, a very subtle one that used very little power. All it did was prevent sound from leaving the area, very useful and the priest was glad that he had the foresight to use it before setting his now failed trap into motion.

Regardless he allowed his 'Assassins' to continue the battle. Or was it more accurate to say his single 'Assassin' at this point? The collateral damage was getting intense and thus the priest and the Archer had long since left the immediate battlegrounds. Overlooking the area from a warehouse a few blocks away Kirei wondered if Lancer would fall.

Despite the obvious upgrade Archer had given his other Heroic Spirits the power they exhibited was disappointing. It was still immense in its own right yet Kotomine expected something impressive in a Noble Phantasm.

"This is the first time I've ever done that on a Secondary you know?" Added Archer from his side.

Frowning Kirei diverted his immediate attention away from the battle.

"Secondary?" He asked hoping that his Servant would elaborate.

"Yeah Secondary, like uhh a hero who plays Second fiddle to the main hero of the legend." Archer explained. Kotomine nodded in understanding.

"Like Little John to Robin Hood." He replied.

Wait, first time he had tried this on a Secondary?

"You've done this to main Heroes then?" That implied that he had done this to multiple main heroes of multiple legends. Was Archer some sort of god like entity that bestowed power upon famous figures throughout history? Was he a figure not too different from the lady of the lake that bestowed Excalibur to King Arthur?

Several explosions in the background continued to be ignored.

"Yeah I've pulled this trick on a few Main guys before." Pausing for a moment he corrected himself. "Actually I'm wrong, I have pulled this on a Secondary before, a pink guy. I was obviously the main character of that legend." The priest could almost picture the smirk beneath that helmet.

"He tried to steal my shtick about being a passing through Rider but I still have that title." Kotomine squinted at his Servant. Archer's statistic's popped up in his mind, yet none of them revealed the title of 'Passing through Rider.'

He decided to remain silent on the subject.

Looking back towards the battle Kotomine scanned the combatants. It seemed that removing himself from the immediate danger most likely dissuaded Emiya from appearing. If he knew the Magus killer on any level then he was sure that the man would come in once it appeared victory was certain.

Thus the only way to bring Emiya out into the open was to expose himself. It was risky but the drive to meet such a person urged him forwards.

"Archer, we're going in." Hopping off his vantage point Kotomine strafed to the side.

Shrugging the blue Heroic spirit soon followed wondering what his master had in mind.

* * *

"You are quite the formidable opponent!" Announced Lancer as he continued to hide behind his rapidly diminishing cover as Assassin continued to blast it apart.

"But with my trump card I will defeat you! Hook line and sinker!" The voice he used sounded confident; it was as if the outcome of the battle was already assured.

A card holder materialized in his hand, moving it towards his belt buckle lightning began to charge his weapon.

Sola could feel the prana move from her servant to his weapon. It was significant but not to the point of breaking.

'Full Charge'

Warned the belt once enough power had been transferred.

Glowing with power the lance was ready to be used.

And then the card was shot out of his hand and into the dirt.

Fading into existence Archer's invisibility worn off.

Bending over he quickly snatched the card.

"Oh, it's been awhile since I've gotten my hands on this ticket, or should I say 'Your' universes ticket?"

Archer knew what the card was? This was bad news, or it would've been if said card wasn't a noble phantasm directly attached to Lancer.

Dodging to another piece of cover Lancer avoided another explosion courtesy of Assassin.

Snapping his fingers the card that Archer held dissolved into golden dust.

Well it should've at least, it didn't in this case.

"Sorry but as a thief in my legend I've always been able to keep my hands on whatever treasure I've found unless forced away from it."

Okay this had escalated from bad to just plain horrible.

Lancer now had a seven servant machine of destruction throwing explosions at him and a stealthy secret Archer after him. To top it all off he didn't have his train card anymore! Without it he couldn't access his most powerful weapon.

Turning tail was the only option now but it was far from safe. Being in the body of his master made him too nervous, made him second guess himself, it made him less effective.

It was honestly kid of nostalgic.

"Master, without that card I fear my combat potential will sink, I'm not sure if we can live through this storm." He spoke gravely.

Sola had the resolve to die already, to die with her love in battle…

It was romantic and grim. If she could die with Lancer she would accept it.

No.

No.

No.

She would not accept it.

They would not die together, they would live together!

"Master?" He asked out loud feeling something off. "What are you doing?"

Forcing Lancer's hand to rise into a fist Sola spoke through her own mouth.

"Lancer!" She began. "I Sola-Ui command you…" Lancer's weapons was still glowing with power, she only had one shot at this.

"I command you to claim victory with all your power!" And thus the spear had left his hand.

Crashing down against Archer's chest he became trapped by a transparent blue hexagon, a manifestation of Lancer's might no doubt!

His hands moved quickly, dropping the train card he pulled out one of his own.

Running forwards Lancer avoided the oncoming explosions that Assassin sent with almost casual ease. His agility augmented by the Command Spell!

Struggling to operate his gun Archer tried to wrench himself free from Lancer's grip.

Dashing forwards Lancer leapt up to deliver what was to be a lethal kick.

Finally inserting his intended card into the gun Archer squeezed the trigger.

'Attack Ride… B-B-B-BARRIER!'

True to the announcement a force field of sorts erected itself between Lancer and it's user.

Breaking the defence, shards of the barrier were launched in all directions. With Lancer's foot smashing right into Archer's chest it seemed that the thief was all but finished.

Staggering backwards the gun wielding Servant kneeled winded from the assault.

"It seems if I didn't bring that defence up in time I'd be finished." He said staring at Lancer warily.

"I can't keep going so I'll be leaving now…" With his Prana exhausted from boosting his defences he inserted another card.

'Attack Ride…. Invisible!'

Dashing forwards Lancer quickly retrieved his card before dismissing it into golden dust.

Assassin had appeared to have left as well whether on his own initiative or otherwise was uncertain.

"Well that went well…" Lancer said trying to liven up the mood.

* * *

Saber's master did not appear but that didn't mean it was a total loss. True Archer was heavily injured and his Assassins extremely fatigued with himself drained of Prana. But they did learn where Lancer's master was. She was with Lancer.

It was unorthodox but effective. Battle with Lancer simply meant that he couldn't end things quickly by assassinating the source of Prana. Things were further complicated by the fact that Lancer's master could continue to activate and use Command Seals.

Speaking of Command Seals it seemed that he was able to force her to use another one. Overall this battle could be considered a minor victory if nothing else.

In addition another piece of news was revealed during that battle.

The voice that came from the Master when the command spell was used wasn't that of Kayneth rather it was that of a female, no doubt his wife.

"Archer, Assassin, how are you all holding up?" He asked as he made his way back home.

"No permanent damage master but I don't think I'll be able to fight for a while." Archer answered.

"We're fine, just lacking in Prana, we ask that Archer warn us before he tries that trick again." Spoke one of the Assassins. Despite being numerous in number the group had decided to elect 'Nago' as their main speaker.

"Hey I did warn you it'd hurt right? That and the pain did pass." Archer quickly pointed out.

"Yes but the pain did stun us, the surprise could've given the enemy time to attack us."

The priest simply listened to the argument and more questions began to arise.

"You knew who Lancer was, the fact that you took that card holder was a clear indication, now tell me who was he and what does he do?"

"Long story short he's a demon, genie thing that grants the wishes of the people he possess so he can go back in time to ruin the time line but unlike all those other demon, genie guys he decided to be a good guy so now he runs around in a time travelling train to beat people up using a wimpy kid as his host."

This was clearly a joke and Kirei didn't like being mocked.

"Archer, time travel is true magic, are you telling me a Lancer is capable of true magic?"

"Yeah sort of, but it was mainly the train." A silence passed over the group. One of the Assassins spoke up. He sounded almost serious.

"A train? That's stupid, now a dragon castle? That's a different story!" Wait what?

"Assassin, are you telling me that you to have access to true magic as well?"

"Well not me but a friend." This was getting ridiculous.

"Now you'll be telling me that one of you have access to the second magic and can turn into other heroes from different dimensions."

"No only Decade can do that." That just raised more questions. "I just summon them." That actually explained a few things, it also confirmed one of the many theories Kotomine had cooked up.

Regardless of what Lancer really was he had no other information. Archer was technically the most accurate source of information on the Heroic Spirit. It was almost depressing.

For the time being Kotomine would have to rest and cease combat for a time, unbeknown to him this was true for all Masters and Servants of this war for one reason or another.

Himself due to fatigue and low levels of Prana.

Rider due to the same reason as above.

Lancer due to the same reason in addition to only having one Command Seal remaining.

Caster due to being dead and simply non-existent.

And Berserker due to his Master's deteriorating health despite his large store of Command Seals.

Out of every Servant and Master combination Saber was the healthiest.

Despite this Emiya and his Heroic Spirit were both too busy to fight.

* * *

"So uhh not that I'm complaining or anything but why are we moving?" Asked Saber as he moved another box to the car.

"It's because we're compromised." Replied Iri smiling. "Kiritsugu says everyone will know where we live so now we have to move so that they don't know."

Nodding in understanding Saber continued to move the boxes around content with the menial labour he was assigned.

"Oi EIJI! Hurry it up! We don't want the enemy to get the drop on us!" Shouted a disembodied arm.

"Ankh, please stop calling Saber that, someone might know him!" She half-heartedly scolded. It was kind of nice to see someone calling Saber by his real name even if it was dangerous.

"Oh? So what about me then huh? What if people know who I am?" He had a point, what if people knew who he was?

It was quite the dilemma, then again a floating red hand was fairly unique anyways so if anyone knew who he was they'd be able to identify him by appearance alone anyways.

"Well maybe we should have you just travel with us in spirit form maybe?" It was probably the best solution and short of being possessed again there wasn't much choice.

Fading out of existence the floating hand simply clicked his tongue in annoyance. Or at least made the same sound as a tongue clicking, it was honestly quite hard to tell with a disembodied hand.

Both Maya and Kiritsugu were absent from the work, they had apparently gone off to scout their new home to see if that too was compromised yet.

For a while Saber continued to work in silence before stepping into the car to drive. Despite his earlier disposition his face now wore a depressed and trouble expression.

The directions were rather straight forwards and with his skill in 'Riding' and his earlier experience in life he easily navigated the Einzbern forest to the main roads.

Though Saber wasn't the most vocal person around this silence did worry Irisviel to the point where she looked to Ankh for advice. Of course he remained silent in his spirit form compounding her worry.

"Saber?" She asked.

"Hmm?" He replied keeping his eyes on the road.

"Is there something wrong you want to talk about?" There was a long pause, only broken up by the sounds of cars passing by.

"I don't know." He replied honestly. Iri simply waited for an explanation.

"Emiya seems to be a good guy but… he does bad things." He started. "I mean, I guess I understand why he does it the way he does but he doesn't even show any regret or remorse, it's almost like he's…. empty." The last word was spoken with a measure of dread.

Irisveil frowned at this assessment but then looked away sadly.

"Kiritsugu is the man I love." She began. "I think he does everything for a reason, I think he holds everything inside, I think it hurts him…"

Saber frowned at that.

"He believes he's doing the right thing, not only that but he believes he HAS to do it, please don't think any less of him Saber."

Another pause washes over the silent pair.

"I can't blame him for doing what he does, I just don't like his methods." He began. "But if he really is hurting inside then I guess I'll have to keep on helping him."

'Dumbasses'

Announced a voice in both of their heads.

'That Emiya guy, he's broken.' Ankh began. 'Hell he's probably even more broken then you are Eiji and that takes effort! I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to kill his wife to save two people!'

It was a dark thing to say.

"Ankh!" Eiji protested. "That's not right! Emiya isn't a monster, he'd never do anything like that!"

Before he could voice himself even more he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay Saber, even if Kiritsugu decided to kill me for the greater good I'd accept it." She told him with a sad smile. It was almost as if she was ready for this eventuality.

No saying it was an eventuality implied that it may or may not happen; it was as if she knew it would occur and was simply accepting it as truth!

Saber didn't want to accept it but if Iri did then he had no choice.

He'd accept it for now, but he didn't have to like it.

Iri didn't want to leave things like this, she wanted her Servant to get along with everyone.

"Saber?" She asked quietly. "Why don't we visit a park tomorrow and get some ice cream to eat?"

Surprisingly it wasn't Saber who answered.

"EIJI WE'RE GOING TO THE EAT ICECREAM TOMORROW!"

* * *

Returning back to base Lancer found himself very tired and drained. Sola even more so. The average human body in this day and age wasn't meant to move and fight at the level of Heroic Spirits.

Despite losing another Command Seal Sola remained content if somewhat worried. She was happy that Lancer had fought alongside her but couldn't shake the feeling that she was simply holding him back.

"Lancer… I-" Before she could voice her thoughts Lancer interrupted her.

"Hey Sola, how about we go out on a date?" Her face flushed at the sudden question.

"Bu-b-But we can't!" She stuttered in embarrassment. "Y-you'll leave your armour for me?" She asked with a hint of hope in her voice.

"Nah, if I do that people will panic, I have a better idea." He stated.

"I can possess Kayneth, his body is probably weak from injury but I'm no stranger to possessing weakened forms." He continued. "That and the exercise might do him some good! I'm sure he'll be happy to go out on a date with you, even if it's just his body!"

Sola was somewhat conflicted, on one hand she'd have to be seen with her detestable fiancé, on the other hand she was used to acting like she enjoyed it. That and it would actually be Lancer.

"I-I'll ask Kayneth if it's alright." Making her way off into the ruined building that they called their hideout she left Lancer behind to guard the entrance.

Eventually she entered the room.

"Uhh Kayneth? Are you awake?" She asked timidly. There was a brief pause and just when she was about to leave an answer called out.

"Yes, Sola what is it?" The voice was filled with betrayal yet he still loved her, he couldn't control how he felt.

"Uhh…" How would she ask him? He would get jealous if she was too forward but then again that wasn't so bad, she would be spared the awkwardness of dating Lancer in Kayneth's body. If things went forward and Lancer possessed Kayneth then the Servant might find out what she had done to get the Command Seals.

"Lancer wants to possess your body again, for scouting purposes, we'll be using a date as a cover." Kayneth considered her words carefully.

She had all the power here, so why was she so nervous? He already knew of course, she was in love with Lancer and would do anything for him.

But as a man in love he too would do anything for his fiancé. After a few moments he gave his answer.

"Alright, tell Lancer he can possess me, we'll go out tomorrow."

Sola wasn't sure if she was nervous or ecstatic at that news.

* * *

And thus another day passes…

* * *

Rider was strange, Waver knew that much already. He was however unprepared for how strange his Servant really was.

Walking through the park Rider kept himself in Spirit form, apparently using his ultimate noble phantasm had drained his reserves immensely. Though he was incorporeal he still managed to annoy Waver enough to convince his Master to take a walk outside for fresh air.

To have a Reality Marble meant his way of thinking, his perception of the world was so warped that it could manifest itself physically into this realm.

To have such a strong belief that justice would persevere was admirable, naïve and childlike. Yet after seeing his Servant and those other Heroic Spirits fight it was hard to believe that justice couldn't win out in the end. It also made him more curious to his Servant's history.

Yet despite his constant research Waver couldn't find any book referring to anyone that fit Rider's description.

This lead Waver to one conclusion, a suspicion he had since the beginning.

That his Servant was from another universe.

Last night Waver dreamt of battle.

He dreamt of upholding the ideals of justice, of allies and a loved one's death.

Despite this he continued on with stronger resolve. He dreamt of moving forwards, never slowing down. Always becoming Stronger. He dreamt of a desperate battle, one where all hope seemed lost yet he still emerged as the victor.

It was Rider's dream. Kamen Rider Stronger.

Shaking his head free of that memory Waver never told Rider that he had seen his memories.

Yet despite seeing it firsthand there was little to no context.

"Rider, about your legend, what was it about?" Rider decided to give his master the abridged version.

"A bunch of bad guys screwed my best friend over so I pretended to be bad as well, they upgraded my body, I then kicked their asses! That's the long story short anyway."

Waver raised an eye brow and sighed.

Even in life his Servant was reckless, if his entire legend was built around him being stupid and accomplishing the impossible then it meant Rider was a very interesting Heroic Spirit indeed.

Yet despite Rider revealing part of his story Waver knew that it was more complicated than that.

The walk in the park was refreshing and the violin that one of the street performers was playing on was quite nice. It was a sad but hopeful tune, a skilful musician to be sure. Waver wasn't much of a listener of music but even he could appreciate such sounds.

"Master, there's another Servant nearby." Waver froze, there was no choice he'd have to run.

"Where are they Rider!?" He asked mentally scanning the area.

"…. I think they're over by the ice cream stand Master." Turning his gaze back he spotted them, how he had missed the Einzbern surprised him though something was off. Her hair for one was now slightly more…. Red. She was rather sneaky, dying her hair red as a disguise!

"Waver Velvet!" A familiar voice behind him announced.

Frozen in shock Waver slowly turned his head to see his teacher Kayneth out in the open with his fiancé hanging off his arm.

Also since when did he have blue high lights in his hair and wear glasses? Was this an attempt at disguise as well?

Rider thought this was all quite amusing.

"Haha, Waver I've changed my opinion of Lancer's Master, he seems quite lively!" Waver couldn't even bring himself to apply his palm to his face.

Kayneth soon spotted the Einzbern and her Servant.

"OH SABER! Good to see you!" Saber upon being called turned his head in surprise.

"You!" He shouted in amazement. "You're Lancer's Master! Thank god you're okay!"

"EIJI!" Shouted the Einzbern in what seemed like frustration. "Damn it you idiot!"

Kayneth simply smirked. "Well it seems we all have dates except little Waver here!"

Saber or Eiji as he was called was simply too relieved to object to that, Einzbern seemed too angry and was about to voice her objections when Waver interrupted him.

"Wait what?" The simple statement summed up his feelings quite nicely.

"Waver, Waver, Waver, as your teacher it is my job NO my DUTY to help you reel in a girl!"

"Wait what?" Repeated Waver. Kayneth never behaved like this.

"You remind me of another useless boy I once knew!" He said looking suddenly quite nostalgic.

"Wait what?" The joke was starting to get stale but no one could really protest.

"First I must assess your normal abilities, this first attempt will most likely end in failure but after that I'll be sure to give you plenty of feedback!"

Dragging him along with super human strength Kayneth scanned the area for the perfect catch.

"The best way to learn how to swim is by throwing one into the deep end!" Pushing him forwards Waver practically stumbled into a pair of ladies.

"OUCH sorry Miss, my uhh teacher is not usually like this." He said quickly apologizing.

The absurdity of the situation made him forget that he was in a free for all death match for a wish granting artefact.

"Hello Waver Velvet." One of the girls spoke. Wait she knew who he was?

"Uhh have we met before?" He asked nervously.

"Oh you'd know us as Assassin." OH SHIT! The violin player in the background chose this moment to reach the finale of his wonderful song by plucking the string to close things off.

Staring back at Saber and Kayneth for help all he saw was the pair giving him the thumbs up as if to encourage him. Clearly they had no idea that the two women in front of him were both Servants.

Somehow he knew that Rider was to blame for all this.


	9. Chapter 9

**Fate: All Riders.**

Chapter 9: Cooling off.

* * *

Waver was in panic mode. Two Masters along with Saber behind him with Lancer who knows where and two Assassins in front of him. It didn't even register in his mind that having two Assassins broke the rules. Then again even if he did realize that sooner he would've probably been okay with it since his own Servant broke the rule already.

Seriously, seven Riders it was ridiculous.

The only thing that would make it even more unbelievable was if a single Master had eight servants at the same time without any of them resorting to logic defying Reality Marbles.

Despite being surrounded by enemies Waver soon realized that Rider had yet to materialize himself. If he remembered correctly impossible odds were things that his Servant lived for so why wasn't he protecting his Master?

Of course Waver knew that such a defence would be hopeless but Rider struck him as the type of hero to fight until the bitter end.

Taking a step back the two Assassins moved in.

"Rider what are you doing?" He asked his Servant mentally.

"Oh don't worry Master you've got five other civilians in the area at least." He began.

"First you have that violin player, and then you have that cool looking guy with the jacket and shades." Waver still wasn't confident in his chances.

"Third you have that guy with the army pants and spiky hair next to that serious looking guy with all those buttons."

Even with civilians Waver still considered himself in grave danger.

With two other Masters nearby clean up wouldn't take too long despite the annoyance that would inevitability come with it.

He knew for a fact that his teacher Kayneth was an accomplished mage, tampering with the memories of four bystanders would be child's play for him.

* * *

"Wow Waver isn't doing too bad." Commented Saber.

"He's got their attention but does he have the right bait?" Asked a very suave Kayneth.

"He's going to blow it, look he's sweating bullets!" The red haired Irisviel noted somehow caught up in all this. "It's like he thinks that they're going to attack him or something."

"Well sometimes a gentle man is okay." Said Sola still hanging off her husband's arm.

"Oh look they approached him! Not the other way around! Is that normal?" Asked Saber.

Lord El-Melloi raised an eye brow. "Well for someone with me of course, perhaps some of my charm has rubbed off on him?" In his mind it was a definite possibility.

* * *

Kotomine was resting. Others would say he was working. To those people he would tell them that it kept his mind focused leaving his body to heal.

Going over a map of the city the priest went over his plans.

Of his seven Assassins one of them didn't actually have a civilian form at least not in the traditional sense. According to 'Nago' the 'Ixa' system had so many users that bystanders during their own time seeing the armour couldn't really separate one user from the next.

This seventh Assassin who almost always wore it's armour was more of the concept of the armour come to life.

An identity given form if you will.

The idea itself wasn't foreign to Kotomine and it had similarities to the original Assassin he wanted to summon.

One theory behind the Hassan was that he was multiple people with either the same mask or at least masks that appeared the same. So when one died another would adopt his mantle giving the illusion that the Hassan was immortal.

It wasn't to say that this Assassin had no civilian identity in fact he had them all. He or she could change its appearance to match the civilian forms of all of the other Assassins and a couple others that Kotomine had never seen.

The problem came was that some of these forms didn't sit too well with the other six.

From what he had gathered a few of these faces were their enemies who had gotten their hands on the noble phantasm at one point or another.

Sure the priest could in theory just tell them to shut up and deal with it but there was no real point to sending out a single extra Servant at the cost of the other six's resentment.

Another course of action involved having the doppelganger Assassin simply take the form of one of his other Servants but apparently the others didn't like the idea of a twin walking around, it seemed to unnerve them on some level.

Honestly it seemed to be redundant considering all Servants participating in the Grail war were copies from the throne of heroes any ways.

True they could work with it as seen by their ambush operation last night but for a reconnaissance mission where they had to be unmasked it quickly became a sour note.

Thus the seventh Assassin was put on guard duty.

The other six however were all given the freedom to explore the city to find the bases of the other Masters if possible.

Because of their relatively low power compared to the other Heroic Spirits in the war Kotomine didn't really have to worry about them being detected as Servants.

Archer on the other hand was a different story.

Even in his civilian attire he exuded the presence of a Heroic Spirit, anyone with any sensitivity to magic would instantly pick up on it. Those who couldn't might still instinctively know that whatever was in front of them wasn't natural and inhuman. The best case scenario was to hope that people simply believed he was a remarkable example of the human race.

Normally he'd allow Archer to go out with his 'invisibility' power but considering his own low levels of prana it was inadvisable.

"So how are those six doing?" Asked Archer. With no television in the church the only source of entertainment was to annoy his Master and that proved to be a challenge at times.

"They've come in contact with three Masters, I'm having them keep watch in case they decide to form an alliance but this doesn't seem to be the case…. That and it seems that the Master of Rider is aware of them at least to some degree." He spoke.

Archer simply shrugged and decided to throw in a few helpful comments.

"The kid has the oldest Hero out of everyone but the old fart is hardly the strongest." He smirked at his own secret joke. "In fact Rider might find that to be a compliment."

Kotomine simply went back to studying the map of the city.

"You should probably know, all of us can probably be considered Riders though the title we've gone by has nothing to do with the class system, I suppose for us it's another way of describing our jobs."

This actually sounded important.

"And what kind of work does a Rider do then?" He asked still studying the map.

"We all fight." That was hardly helpful yet the way he said it held weight.

The priest saw no point in commenting and continued his own work in silence.

* * *

Waver was not in the best situation, so his panic addled mind decided that the best course of action was to simply call for help.

Staring back at his teacher and Saber the two looked as if they were having a friendly chat with only the Einzbern giving off any feel of aggression.

To say it was the kind of aggression that came with getting ready for combat was wrong. It was more accurate to say that she was annoyed.

"Sensei!" He yelled out calling his teacher, the words simply were blurted from his mouth.

Before he could even regret his action Kayneth was already at his side.

"Why hello ladies." He smiled before freezing in shock.

* * *

Lancer recognized Assassin.

It was the same man from before, the man that Kotomine Kirei had returned the belt device to.

In that man's hands he held a violin, how Lancer had missed him before was a mystery to himself. Then again the Servant was Assassin, blending in and not being detected was his forte.

"Sorry ladies but me and my young, very handsome and very available friend should ship out for now, I'll be sure to catch you again." He said in a somewhat hastened tone.

Lowering his voice he whispered into Waver's ear.

"C'mon let's get out of here, I just noticed Assassin, we're not safe." If one Assassin was here then the priest and his other Servants could be nearby.

With his depleted stores of prana and only one Command Seal remaining there was no doubt that he'd come out as the loser in such a battle.

Even if Assassin was as injured as himself the same couldn't be said for the other two heroes.

Saber was honourable and naïve enough to be manipulated into protecting him he supposed and Rider didn't seem like the kind to take on someone weaker either.

However the Assassins didn't have to beat them, they just had to distract them long enough for their allies to ambush Lancer once and for all.

That and Sola would be in danger.

Grabbing his student by the shoulder he nodded at the two lovely ladies before taking his leave.

Finally out of ear shot Waver seemed to sigh and relax slightly.

"You know you did swimmingly for a first try, you didn't even get slapped!" Lancer smiled.

* * *

Waver was grateful for his teacher's assistance.

Yet he was also confused, several anomalies presented themselves.

First off Kayneth El-Melloi was never this warm towards his students. Yes he was a good teacher but his relationship with those he taught was strictly professional (despite himself being on the receiving end of a lecture that embarrassed him in front of the whole class). Kayneth got results and at the clock tower that's all that mattered.

Second was the fact that he was wandering around during the Grail War with his fiancé.

Strictly speaking from a Magi point of view putting your fiancé and future bearer of your child in such a situation was simply a bad idea.

Kayneth would never do such a thing without reason.

Thirdly the warning about Assassin was suspect.

He said 'Assassin' not 'Assassins' which meant…..

"Wait one Assassin sir? Don't you mean two?" Judging by his expression it was Kayneth's turn to be confused.

"Two? I only saw one, what are you talking about boy…" Lord El-Melloi quickly scanned the area and his eyes narrowed.

Smiling he pushed Waver behind almost protectively.

"Assassins!" He announced. "I did not think you all would be so eager for a rematch, do you wish to be reeled in?!"

Was Kayneth suicidal? He could reveal the existence of magic to the world just saying such words to all the civilians here!

Then again such a phrase wasn't inherently volatile and would not point towards such a thing.

Rather it would simply confuse the average civilian.

However these specific civilians did not appear to be confused at all.

"My my my." Spoke the violinist from earlier. "You're Lancer aren't you?" Waver simply raised an eye brow, what was going on?

"I am and I must say you have a pretty good right hook, my jaw still hurts slightly." Lancer replied. Sola-Ui massaged her chin in annoyance.

"Oh? How did you know it was me?" He asked as EVERY civilian in the area converged, all six of them.

"I didn't until you took the bait and told me just then." The violinist offered his hands up in defeat, despite being sworn enemies they were fairly polite with each other.

"Oi what's going on here?" Spoke a very annoyed Einzbern.

The civilians all smiled. "We're Assassin." They spoke in unison making Waver shiver in response.

This was insanely stupid, why did they reveal themselves like that?

It made no tactical sense what so ever! Everyone looked like they were tensing up for a fight.

Everyone was tired and exhausted but they didn't want anyone else to figure that out.

Ironically the only one fit to fight was the one who did not look like he wanted to do so.

"Hey hey we can all get along right?" Saber spoke intervening. "Here I have ice sticks for everyone!"

And indeed he did.

No one moved for a moment then Rider stepped out of spirit form taking a stick.

"Oh I haven't had one of these for ages, thanks Saber." The two of them smiled and the tension was broken.

* * *

"What do you mean you're all eating ice cream?" Kotomine exclaimed in surprise.

"Actually they're Ice sticks, they're lactose intolerant friendly!" Answered an Assassin.

It appeared that despite the professionalism they showed earlier the Assassins really wanted a break.

The priest considered this for a moment.

The Assassins had just made their civilian forms known; luckily for him they still looked like the average Japanese citizens and thus could still blend into a crowd.

Having no aura that screamed 'SERVANT' was also a blessing, in theory he could simply just have them hide and spy on their enemies.

Regardless the master of Saber now knew he had at least six Servants under his belt.

Like all developments Kotomine Kirei had already found a way to make this work in his favour.

"Assassins." He spoke sternly in his mental link. "Reveal your abilities to them in the course of conversation." The replies were somewhat confused.

All of the Assassins assumed the priest was a naturally secretive person, such an act was out of character.

"Casually have them reveal their abilities as well, perhaps ask about their legends." He continued.

"From what they tell us I can cross reference what Archer has already said to see how accurate his information was." That was making more sense.

By the sounds of it Archer already knew who the Servants were but such stories he had told were outlandish and hard to believe.

If he could get the other Servants to confirm what Archer was saying as true then this would not be for nothing.

"Just make sure they don't find out about Archer." Trading information was useful, especially if the enemy thinks you're trading everything you have.

This of course still left Berserker. Archer's report had been evasive but from what the priest could tell the Servant was dangerous.

The crazed Servant was both fast and strong, all this he already knew.

The drawback of such a power was the immense mana cost required to even keep it in existence.

He already knew that to. The above information was something that was applied to most if not all Berserkers.

So what was different with this one?

Well for one it was impossible to detect using magical means.

From what he remembered of listening in on his father and teacher's death the thing was also able to passively disable magical defences as well.

No hero that Kotomine could think of had these all of these traits.

Another piece of information was that Archer seemed to know this Servant personally.

Nothing was said but the priest had to be good at reading people in his profession.

From the way his own Servant spoke of Berserker he could gleam several undertones of friendship, affection and in some cases resentment and rivalry.

It wasn't that hard to put two and two together honestly.

Archer had spoken of being the main character of his own story and having a secondary character as an ally. It seemed that Berserker was this character.

In other words he was a hero from an alternate dimension; all of his research on heroic spirits was for naught.

Regardless it was more then what the other masters seemed to know thus far.

* * *

Kayneth was possessed, it was a strange feeling but one he could academically admire if not for the fact that the one who possessed him was a complete womanizer.

He could not help but feel that his fiancé was cheating on him with himself.

It was a rather strange day.

Even stranger was his student Waver! He did not foresee the boy living more than a day or two into the war but here he was completely unscathed which was more than he could say for himself.

Though Lancer controlled his body he occasionally glanced at Rider.

Rider, the white scarfed hero.

That white scarf was rather easy to get. However given the choice Kayneth would never do such a thing again, it had been one of the most terrifying ordeals he had ever gone through.

The memory was still fresh in his mind even after all this time.

Kayneth had been researching appropriate heroes to summon at the time going through multitudes of history books.

Making a list he had concluded that he wanted Alexander the great! Not just a brute who craved war but apparently the man was a great philosopher, such a Heroic spirit would have been fit to serve himself.

However as he perused and scryed potential locations of heroic catalysts, fragments of famous weapons and the like he was interrupted.

The wizard marshal Zelretch had appeared before him asking what he was doing.

However so engrossed with his research Kayneth simply snapped yelling at the man to go away and that he was doing important work preparing for the Holy Grail war.

Unused to being abused so openly (If accidently) in the clock tower he felt it was a novel experience and simply decided to give the blond noble a white scarf.

A badly damaged white scarf.

"Here's an artifact you can use, it belonged to the STRONGEST rider ever, of all time. Be sure to praise him as such when you summon him."

It was only until hours later after the Kaleidoscope had left that Kayneth learnt what had truly transpired.

Kayneth experienced several emotions.

Shock at being so close to such a dangerous individual and living through it without injury.

Pride at being able to do so.

And finally joy at receiving such a valuable catalyst.

Then Shock again.

It was at this point that Kayneth decided he was too sober for this and promptly lost the scarf.

He would've locked it behind multitudes of defences but in his drunken stupor Waver had somehow managed to grab it.

The Strongest Rider now in the hands of his student.

'Lancer.' Thought Kayneth. 'Use your guile and see if you can't find out what Rider's noble phantasm is would you?" He didn't like being so sneaky but being shot by a bullet and having all of your magic circuits fry was enough that he'd swallow his pride.

"Hey Rider!" Lancer seemed to obey as he tried to grab his fellow Servant's attention.

"Who would win in a fight? You or Assassin?"

Rider simply laughed.

"Me of course! Assassin would stand no chance!" The combined forces of Assassin all reacted with varying degrees of amused confidence and annoyance at this declaration. It seemed that they thought otherwise.

"Right and how would you do that?" Biting his popsicle the Assassin wearing army pants and combat boots stood up as if in challenge.

"Well I'd fight you and win of course." Rider kept sitting and continued to enjoy his popsicle.

"Hey guys let's not fight right now okay?" Saber tried to calm the group down.

Being a nice guy Saber was a fairly effective peace keeper.

It also helped that he was clearly the most battle ready out of anyone there.

If everyone teamed up it might be possible to bring him down.

However neither Lancer or Rider were willing to even try that due to the fact that their masters were at ground zero.

Only the Assassins had a good chance and they had less mana in them all combined than any other Servant individually.

"Seriously though Rider." Lancer spoke once more as if the previous tension was never there.

"You're a fairly powerful hero that's very easy to see." Everyone liked to be flattered.

"But I can't imagine you defeating all of the Assassins." At first Rider nodded at being complimented, then confused as Lancer continued his speech.

"What I mean is I'm sure with your superior abilities you'd be able to wipe out three maybe four or five of them but they still outnumber you, at that point I'm sure they'd wipe you out."

Rider simply smiled not even trying to hide that he indeed had an ace up his sleeve.

"I'd tell you but I'm sure my master wouldn't like that, nice try though." Waver let out a sigh of relief that he himself did not realize that he was holding.

Despite his silence however it was enough information to understand that Rider had an ability to combat multiple enemies at once.

Kayneth seemed satisfied by that little nugget but mentally urged Lancer to find out more.

"Well whatever skill you have I doubt you'd be able to beat Saber there!" Saber's eyes widened as he licked his popsicle.

It was at this point the Einzbern spoke up in a rather angry fashion.

"OH COME ON LANCER!" Everyone reacted to that piece of information differently.

Before now they all simply assumed that Kayneth's Servant was somewhere else or perhaps in spirit form.

Now they realized that the Master and Hero were one of the same.

Waver acted in surprise wondering where that Servant of the spear was.

The Assassin's simply glared and Rider chuckled.

Standing up the Assassin that spoke up before produced a golden belt and a knuckle duster.

"Wait what?" Waver was the only one clueless about this development.

"Lancer has the ability to possess people and now he's trying to fish for information, he's not very subtle about it!" Waver looked over at his teacher and his face paled.

Kayneth was already terrifying in his mind but a man who was his teacher with the power of a servant?

It was almost unthinkable.

"Oh?" Despite everyone knowing the truth at this point Lancer continued to play dumb.

If Kayneth had complete control of his own body he's use it to apply the palm of his hand to the front of his face.

"Well I'd say the same about you, whatever you are Mr red head." The words had obvious implications.

The meeting had gone from tense, to slightly cautious ice pop relaxation to tense once more.

"Tcch.." The Eizbern remarked taking a bite of her ice stick.

The Assassin's all held their golden knuckle duster by now with their belts visible.

And then all the Assassins present were annihilated by a bright pink light.

* * *

Kariya was in pain but he refused to use another command seal to alleviate it.

The pain was good, it was a small reminder of what Sakura had to go through.

The thought of saving her kept him going, he didn't need to be comfortable to do it.

Behind him the crazed Servant followed obediently out of sight.

Though he was no Magus Kariya was naturally talented, very talented in fact.

From Zouken's point of view it was unfortunate that he left the family, such potential simply gone.

So here he was stalking the more quiet areas of the city, parklands stretched far ahead of him.

However the area was unused, everyone was either at work or at school.

However his bugs had managed to find several interesting individuals.

There were at least three Servants in the area from what he could tell.

Two of which were weakened yet the third did not take advantage of this.

The only conclusion was that they were all allied, such a threat could not be ignored.

Getting closer to the area the bugs had something else to report.

One of the civilians sitting with the Masters and Servants held a noble phantasm, a golden knuckle duster and a belt that was identical to the white knight he had fought before.

Eyes widened at the revelation, he had to act now.

Somehow Assassin had survived, Kariya wasn't sure how but this time he planned to end it.

"Berserker!" He whispered. "I command you to destroy them all!" A command seal faded away in a flash of light.

"I wish you had more prana!" Another seal faded away and his pain along with it.

A grey miasma appeared above the group of Servants and down dropped an abomination.

Slamming down into the ground Berserker seemed to flicker for a moment as if there were multiple versions of himself smashing the ground where the Assassins had once sat.

Everyone sprang into action.

As the smoke cleared words were yelled.

"HENSHIN!" They cried in unison.

Leaping from the dust three shapes emerged from different directions.

The Servants all held their Masters in their arms bridle style.

The Einzbern complained and beat her fists against the armoured form of Saber uselessly.

"PUT ME DOWN IDIOT!" She yelled.

Waver Velvet gave an undignified squawk as Rider carried him to safety.

"Oh god I'm getting too used to explosions…" he thought to himself silently.

Sola-Ui simply clung to her fiancé, eyes wide and blushed.

"So manly." She thought.

Sliding to a stop the heroes put their respective masters down.

Such an attack was sure to bring out a few onlookers and bystanders right?

* * *

Kotomine simply watched the area with his scrying magic and sighed.

He had taken the precaution last night not only to create anti-sound boundary fields at the docks but also in places that he thought were potential battle grounds.

Normally he would not have done such a thing but being the unofficial self-appointed overseer of the war he felt that it was a good idea at the time.

Regardless there was something to be gained from this encounter.

Information on Berserker and thus the Master who had killed both his father and teacher.

He did not feel rage at seeing such a foe though, honestly this whole revenge thing was simply something he was forcing himself to do. He felt no obligation to carry it out yet his mind told him that he should.

* * *

"Ank- I mean… Iri! Get somewhere safe!" With an annoyed grunt the white haired girl obeyed.

Bringing up his sword Saber studied his new opponent.

Lancer and Stronger readied themselves with spear and fist respectively however it was clear that neither were in any shape to fight.

"So which Servant are you?" He asked the green eyed monster.

All it did was growl.

"It seems we've reeled in a Berserker." Lancer commented as if he was talking about a fish rather than an actual threat to his life.

Stronger nodded. "Then he's mine to fight!" Valliant words and despite his weakened form everyone there almost believed he could do it if only for a second.

"RIDER!" Waver yelled. "We have to get away!"

Stronger would not take a step back, this was something he could not turn away from.

"I made a promise to a little girl didn't I? That I would find the monster that took her father's life." He spoke solemnly.

Waver tried to think of something to get his Servant to back down.

"Damn it we can save him for later you're not strong enough now!" Rider chuckled at the response.

"True but that thing is faster than me, you saw how it got us all by surprise, it's either fight or die."

Lancer and Saber could see it too, it's why they didn't just keep running with their Masters in tow, they had to draw a line.

"Rider…." Waver reached out.

"Don't worry ya idiot, as long as I'm needed I'll never die." He said calmly taking another step forwards.

At this point Berserker had decided to focus all attention on the Rider. Though Saber was stronger he had kept a defensive stance.

"Did I ever tell you about my Noble Phantasm? That I'm basically a living battery with a power generator inside me?" Taking another step Berserker growled in his direction ready to pounce.

"It basically means that I have a one off mana boost that I can use in an emergency."

It was at this point that everyone there realized that Rider's aura had become stronger. Before it was weak but now it's energy threatened even Saber's power and even then it continued to grow.

"CHARGE UP!" The hero flashed white as if he was a child of the sun.

Before the flash could clear a voice rang out from the light.

"The heavens cry out!" The glow began to dim.

"The earth cries out!" The glint from his helmet was amplified with the light.

"The people cry out!" Waver stared in worry.

"They cry out for me to destroy evil!" The silver form of Rider was revealed.

"Listen up, evildoers...I am the warrior of justice, Kamen Rider Stronger!" Clearly this was the greatest threat among the three Servants and Berserker treated it as such.

"THE LEGENDARY SEVEN RIDERS!" The world seemed to explode.


	10. Chapter 10

**Fate: All Riders.**

Chapter 10: Destroyer of worlds.

* * *

Kotomine didn't like this at all.

The boundary field covering the park that hid all sounds from passing to the outside was gone, simply gone! It was Berserker's doing of course, previous evidence supported this.

It wasn't just the Boundary field that had disappeared either.

Every single person and hero there was gone, simply gone, no trace or clue to where that had gone.

Heroic Spirit Rider had used some sort of noble phantasm that turned him silver. The flash of light was so intense that even through the imperfect image of the divination magic Kirei was rubbing his eyes.

They were all gone.

Not wanting to leave things to chance he made a motion with his hand.

"Assassin, Archer we're going." This was going to get messy.

Assassin as always obeyed without question, Archer on the other hand tilted his head to question his Master.

"Charging straight into a fight with little to no preparation, this doesn't seem like you at all Master."

Kirei shook his head to deny this.

"Your observations are off Archer." He began. "We're not going there to fight we're going there to clean things up, look at the time."

Shrugging the Heroic Spirit did indeed check the time. "It's about two fifty, so what?" then it dawned on him. His eyes widened with what the priest assumed were worry. It appeared that Archer understood the full implications.

It was getting close to the time when school children would start leaving schools and without the boundary fields that Kotomine had originally set up the children and the secret of magic was in jeopardy.

Kotomine wasn't marching to battle as a soldier, he was making his way to a mess as the janitor.

It was going to get messy.

* * *

Sitting in the shadows Kariya watched as his Servant unleashed it's rage upon the Assassins. They all looked like and felt like normal civilians but their weapons gave them away.

He had run into a Servant using something similar last night.

Confident in his Servant's victory with his own repertoire of Command Seals he was soon blinded by the Rider.

As a man who had spent much of his metaphorical life in the shadow's such a light was uncomfortable to say the least.

When his vision returned mountains and hills of gravel littered his vision.

In the middle of it all was his Servant surrounded by a group of heroes which he honestly expected.

What he didn't expect was the number of heroes that surrounded Berserker, before there were only three, now there were seven.

Even stranger was that Saber and Lancer were not among them.

These new heroes had more in common with Rider in the sense that none of them had weapons… except the grey one.

Where they had all come from puzzled Kariya but such things were not important now.

The bigger question was where the Masters and remaining Servants hiding?

In the corner of his vision he saw all of them watching the battle from a vantage point.

The Master of Saber, Rider and Lancer sat there with their Servants excluding Rider of course.

It was an alliance if he had ever seen one.

Rider had just left his Master at the mercy of two others, there was no way they weren't allies!

Then he felt his insides practically implode.

Clutching his stomach in pain Kariya wondered were all the Prana went, his command Seal from earlier should have kept him running for at least half the battle and Berserker had not even begun to move yet!

The pain, the insects within demanded to be fed!

Seeing no other choice Kariya used another Command Seal.

"Stop hurting!" He commanded.

What was going on?

* * *

"What was going on?" Was the thought that plagued Rider as he and his companions faced down the green eyed foe.

The ground beneath Berserker was simply dissolving into nothing, the ground was being replaced with solid white. It was somewhat unnerving but the monster was still a monster, it needed to be brought down.

"LET'S DO THIS!" He cried charging forwards, his brave allies burst into action!

Their enemy faced them all silently watching them.

V3 using his mastery of the wind swiftly arrived first with a kick however the attack did not seem to faze Berserker who simply grabbed the poor heroes foot before throwing him into Riderman.

The two of them fell into a heap.

Dashing forwards and avoiding the blows of all the other heroes Berserker slammed his glowing pink fist into the fallen pair.

An explosion shook the area and the ground beneath him evaporated with the two heroes into white nothings.

Turning around he kicked the identical looking two grasshopper heroes into the ground.

He grabbed and crushed the head of Amazon.

He ripped apart the one known as X with his bare hands!

But when he got to Stronger his fist was blocked.

The ground beneath Berserker had turned white, the gravel ground was slowly evaporating.

"How did you defeat them so easily?" Rider asked in shock. He was answered with another fist which he himself kicked out of the way before replying with his own attack.

Jumping to avoid another strike Rider managed to land a devastating punch against Berserker making the beast stagger back in annoyance.

"I've seen them take more powerful attacks then that! What's going on?" Standing on the white ground Stronger felt his energy being sapped.

"RARRR!" The green eyed monster replied. Charging forwards it slammed the ground dissolving it once more creating shockwaves sending Rider into the air.

Leaping towards his prey Berserker brought his fist up to finish the job as his body began to glow with a sickly pink.

Out of nowhere a voice was heard.

"RIDER DOUBLE KICK!" And Berserker was sent crashing to the ground turning it white as two heroes entered the battle once more.

However instead of landing with both legs intact they landed on their faces.

Everything beneath their waist was evaporating and soon their entire bodies were gone.

However even after such a death they came back, all of them came back.

The first two stood side by side proudly as if they had never been defeated.

V3 and Rider man prepared themselves for another assault!

X readied his weapon while Amazon lowered his stance growling at their foe.

"As long as Riders are needed, we will never die!" They announced.

The ground beneath Berserker continued to evaporate, it's meaning was now clear.

Everything from the reality marble touching Berserker including those born from it were destroyed.

However as long as it existed the Riders would simply resurrect.

The battle had just become more even.

Together they might've been a match for Berserker's strength and speed.

The ability to simply not die would ensure that they could defeat him in a battle of attrition.

However with the power to simply defeat them with a mere touch the outcome was far bleaker.

At this rate Stronger estimated he'd be able to keep the reality marble up for another ten minute or so.

"MACHINE GUN ARM!" Rider man yelled as his hand began spewing out bullets.

Following his example the other heroes began to pepper Berserker with their own ranged attacks.

Resorting to picking up rocks and throwing them didn't seem like a good idea however as Heroic Spirits each piece of gravel easily surpassed the speed of a bullet.

It wasn't enough to kill Berserker but hopefully it was enough to hurt it.

If nothing else it was certainly annoyed if it's yells of fury was anything to go by.

Charging in once more Stronger's silver form blurred against the gravelly back drop.

"Take this and this!" He yelled sending a flurry of fists towards his enemy.

Each blow however was dodged or blocked despite his obvious expertise.

It wasn't Stronger's fault honestly and it wasn't even the skill of Berserker that left him relatively unharmed.

Rather it was the fog that surrounded the crazed Servant that kept him safe.

Without knowing where the brutes arms and legs were Stronger could not predict which blows would come in contact with what.

The best he could do was aim for the monster's glowing eyes or the centre of its body mass.

On the other side Berserker could not get a solid blow in either due to its mindless fury.

Each attack was foiled by Stronger's defence or the intervention by an expertly aimed projectile from the other Riders.

It was a stale mate that Stronger would lose. With each passing moment his Reality Marble continued to be eaten away.

Throwing himself in for the decisive strike Stronger braced himself.

His fist glowed with lightning while Berserker's fist glowed with a sickly pink light that throbbed with each breath.

Their fists collided and at first it seemed that Stronger would win, the thunder surrounding the area appeared to reflect his immense power blinding all onlookers.

Pushing each other away Stronger fell to his knees only to support the fall with his hand.

With the flash of light fading away the outcome was now clear.

Instead of the expected crater the impact zone was marred with simple white.

Not only that but Stronger had reverted to his original red form. The silver markings were now non-existent.

This was not the most worrying thing however.

Berserker was nowhere to be seen.

So everyone did the most sensible thing and looked up.

If the Seven Legendary Rider's weren't Heroic spirits then there was no doubt that they would despair at what they saw.

* * *

Kariya doubled over in pain gasping for precious air.

"Plleeeaassee STOP HURTING!" A Command Seal faded away.

Berserker was eating away at his Prana too quickly, he had to finish things quickly!

"I wWIiish to STTTTOOOP! PLEASE stop HURTing!" The pain evaporated once more.

Sweating profusely it seemed his Servant was at a stalemate.

"Stop the PPPAAAIN!" Another Command Seal gone.

Even after a few moments of battle the pain came back.

"Stop HURTING!" Kariya yelled again with another Command Seal fading away!

Despite using the Seals to stop the pain Kariya wasn't doing it just to get comfortable.

Kariya had no fear. "NO PAIN!" As long as he fought for love.

He knew that if he was in pain then it meant Berserker wasn't getting enough Mana and if he wasn't getting enough Mana he would lose the battle.

"STOP HURTING!" He yelled again, his voice was starting to crack.

He had to finish this soon, his Servant had to use his Noble Phantasm but for that to happen he had to be sane.

"I command you to be Sane!" Clutching his fist he felt the draw of power dropping slightly.

"Use ALL YOUR STRONGEST ATTACK BERSERKER!" The Servant roared in response.

'Final Attack Ride, DE-DE-DE-DECADE!'

* * *

Berserker had revealed himself, a sort of Pink and white armoured knight. It was an appearance that hid his true animal fury.

The seven Riders wasted no time and jumped to meet their foe.

"DOUBLE RIDER KICK!"

"V3 KICK!"

"POWER ARM!"

"X KICK!"

"DAI-SETSUDAN!"

"STRONGER LIGHTNING KICK!"

They were all used to having the higher ground to attack from. Such an assault was against their strengths yet they had to try.

There were seven of them and just one of him, if nothing else such numbers would even the odds right?

Berserker wasn't even slowed down.

Like a meteor crashing to the ground each Rider was destroyed before finally crushing Stronger into the ground.

The world went white.

* * *

Kariya still had a decent amount of Command Seals remaining even after Berserker's battle with Rider.

But everything still hurt, that last attack his Servant had used not only burnt out the last of the prana but it also burnt out his retinas. So used to the dark Kariya had to squint during normal hours of the day. The worms his father had so 'Graciously' given had messed up quite a bit of his body.

Still, despite his Servant's apparent victory Kariya was tired and wanted to retreat.

Though his body was in pain he was used to that by now. What made him tired was his mental fortitude. Using a Command Seal required one to wish with all their willpower to perform the impossible. It was no problem for most mages but Kariya had just burnt almost a dozen Seals in the space of a few minutes.

The last attack was powerful, there was no doubt about it.

He was certain that Rider was defeated and only Saber and Lancer had survived.

Overall it wasn't a bad day, both Assassin and Rider gone.

For now he would retreat and recuperate.

However, being temporarily blinded Kariya had no real way to escape unless he resorted to another Command Seal.

"Berserker!" He gasped tasting blood. "I command you to get us both somewhere safe!"

A roar answered his summons.

However instead of just grabbing his master and running off his Servant did something else.

Feeling his body suddenly feel weightless was a surprise.

A strange sound and sensation passed over him.

It felt empty.

Then just as quickly as that had happened he felt solid ground beneath his feet.

However something was different.

The loose gravel beneath was replaced with something solid, most likely concrete.

The air which was warm was now cool and the sound of waves softly crashing against the shore was heard.

Rubbing his eyes his sight came back.

He was standing by the docks, alone.

Not even Berserker was there yet it's presence was still felt.

"Stop hurting." He grit his teeth and another Seal was gone.

* * *

As Rider was smashed into the ground the world exploded.

Rubbing his eyes Waver yelled out. "RIDER!" How did this happen?

His Servant was supposed to be stronger, unfairly so! How could any other Heroic Spirit beat him?

If that didn't confuse him enough the Servant had beaten Rider whilst inside his own Reality Marble!

Logically Rider should have won! Oh who was he kidding logic didn't apply to his Servant!

Running towards the fallen form of his friend he was soon stopped.

"Hey it's not safe!" Saber yelled grabbing the boy's shoulder.

Indeed it was not, Berserker still stood glaring down at Rider it's Grey miasma once again hiding it's pink form.

However before it could deliver the final blow it screamed, the area around seemed to distort as it's form began to twist.

Then the same grey miasma that engulfed the Servant expanded before consuming it and disappearing.

It appeared that Berserker had run away somehow.

"RIDER!" Waver cried.

With Rider's reality marble the only evidence of the battle was a small crater where Berserker had destroyed the Assassins.

Rushing over to his fallen Servant Waver saw that the damage was far more severe than first imagined.

The helmet was smashed beyond repair, the eyes were cracked open and the horn on top was missing, his clothes were torn and the belt was hardly even holding itself together.

Rider saw his Master and grinned.

"Hey Master, stop crying, I don't want to be drowned you know?" He didn't realize it until now but he was indeed crying.

"Don't die Rider I still need you for the war…" He felt something flick his head, it was Rider. Even weakened as he was the Servant was still strong enough to school his Master.

Sighing Stronger cleared his throat. "As long as Riders are needed, we will never die." He quoted.

There was that phrase again, the phrase that came with the reality marble.

He spoke it with such certainty that for a moment Waver truly believed that his Servant would survive.

But that was not to be, Stronger simply began to fade away.

His lack of prana had finally caught up to him.

Kneeling next to his Servant gold dust began to fill his vision.

"You don't need me anymore Master." Then he was gone, no bolt of lightning, no explosion he was just gone.

Waver paused, his eyes burned. Looking around to the horizon he almost expected his Servant to jump out of nowhere to announce his presence but no such thing occurred.

Clenching his fist Waver ceased to cry.

"Alright everyone we need to cover this up!" The change in Waver's tone surprised everyone there.

"Saber use your strength and push that tree over." Waver continued. "Make sure it "lands in the crater, it's not the best excuse or cover up but at least it'll give people a reason to overlook magic."

"Lancer!" He called out. "See if you can get my Master to hypnotise any passing bystander."

Lancer scratched his neck. "Uhh sorry but possessing my Master takes quite a bit of strength I'm afraid he'll be too tired to do such a thing."

"I'll do it then." Waver announced. Getting onto a bench he surveyed the area for oncoming students. It was the time of day when they would be let off school after all.

Yet none came, in fact it seemed that they were the only ones in the park.

It was confusing but Waver did not let this chance go.

It was time to clean the area up, to make the falling tree and the impact site more believable.

* * *

It wasn't as messy as the priest feared. In fact not a single civilian had entered the park once he had arrived.

A group of school children were about to do such a thing but a quick hypnotise spell sent them on a different path.

Laying down several bounded fields was tiring work but he was quick and efficient about it if nothing else.

The bounded fields were placed at each entrance to the park and would only last for the next two hours, enough time to come up with a more permanent solution.

Any non-magus individual trying to enter the park would spontaneously decide to go somewhere else.

It was a crude enchantment but time was of the essence.

Entering the park the priest hid himself, the other Masters were sure to be around.

However instead of hearing sounds of battle all he heard was a single tree crashing to the ground.

He knew Heroic Spirits were prone to collateral damage but this seemed too precise.

"Hey Master, I think they're…. I think they're cleaning the place up actually." Archer spoke hiding himself from view.

It appeared the battle was indeed over already.

With his usual neutral expression Kotomine decide to simply leave, his forces were simply too weakened to try anything today.

Where was Kariya? Where was the man who killed his father? Where was the man that killed his teacher?

It was the thing that nagged his mind yet Kotomine could not bring himself to care.

Why should he care if his father had died? Why should he care if his mentor had died?

Those questions plagued his mind but the one that frightened him most was.

"Why didn't he care?"

Perhaps finding Kariya would solve that.


End file.
